Crimson String Book II: A Rurouni's Path
by XenoMark
Summary: She chose her path in life, and she will not regret it... plz r+r, no flames
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I'm just borrowing it's characters and stuff for my own personal enjoyment. I do, however, own Mina, Shion, and any other characters who are never seen or heard of in the anime, manga, and movie.  
  


Author's Note: Welcome to "Crimson String Book II: A Rurouni's Path," the sequel to "Crimson String Book I: Siblings of the Sword." For those who are new, you don't need to read the previous book to understand what's going on, summaries of the last book's main events are written in the first few chapters and prologue. I have to warn you readers ahead of time that this fic is supposed to be angst above all else, so don't flame me or anything if there's no action. The rating will most definitely change later on, but the violence won't get as intense as it did in book I. Anyway, without further ado, I present to you the prologue to "Crimson String Book II: A Rurouni's Path."  
  


Prologue  
  


Once again, I stand here; amidst the clouds, the city, and it's people, I stand here once more. I stand here with my allies, all of whom I can easily trust my life with. Rikumari Gonji, an ex-samurai from the fallen Tokugawa Shogunate, I can always depend on his advice. Wesley Smith, a "cowboy" from America claiming to be the "Best in the West," his skill with the sword and gun are equal. Shizaku Ryosuke, my youngest follower and extremely loyal, he means a lot to me, possibly more than my own life. Mizuhara Chisato, though she is not here with us at the moment, I could always trust her with anything. Futami Hideo, ex-Iga Ninja, an odd and silent fellow, but I know he is trust-worthy despite his frightening exterior. Kurotara Yurika, a tragic girl, stoic and calm in all situations, I can't blame her for how she is. And then there is I, Himura Mina, also known as Hitokiri Kensai during the hell that was the Meiji Revolution, leader of these few that follow me. Who are we, we are the Mitsurugi Seven, the dragons that will cleanse this country of the sins of this new era.

I was not always known as Himura Mina, I was once a simple farmer's daughter named Tachibana Minako. It was my twelfth year when I first met him, the love of my life, the one I share my red string with, Himura Shinta, also known to many as Hitokiri Battousai or Himura Kenshin. My chance encounter with Shinta caused many downfalls in my life; the farm went through a drought for two years, my parents died, my life just became hell, and then he returned once more. After saving me from death, the very same omen had saved me from my fate. Shinta took me in, adopting me to be his little sister, teaching me the ways of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, sending me down the path of violence.

I encountered many as I traveled down the path by the Sanzu: Kajima Tetsu, a good friend who later died by my hands; Shishio Makoto, an evil man that had a good heart; Misanagi the Flying Arrow, leader of the Sanada Ninjas and a near victim to a fate worse than death; Azumi Shion, my best friend and rival; and then there was her, the other soul that resided in my body, Hitokiri Kensai herself.

The path of violence only led me toward sadness; the souls whose lives I had taken would not let me sleep, Kensai's words and lectures slowly influencing my mind, the Sanada Leader Misanagi haunting me over and over again after nearly being raped by Kensai, all of these things made life worse than hell. I still lived because of him, I still lived so I could be with my brother, my love, Shinta. However, after working with Ishin Shishi's Cho Shu Clan for one year, we were separated. We never did see each other during the war after that, I had been drafted into the Satsuma Clan shortly after our separation. My relationship with Shion grew during the final years of the Meiji Revolution, though my mind was slowly being brainwashed by Kensai. My mind broke away from Kensai's hold on January 5, Western year 1868, the very same day the Ishin Shishi turned their backs on me. They sent Tetsu to kill me, and then Shion. Tetsu fell before my blade, Shion faked my death and allowed me to escape. The next day, I met with Arai Shakku. He told me of what happened to my brother; he had become a rurouni to repent for the sins he committed during the Revolution. Learning this information, I knew of my next goal in life; to find my brother no matter how long it took. Taking the sakabatou made by Shakku's son, Seikuu, I left Kyoto shortly, following the path of the rurouni...  
  


"I will not regret the path I take, because I know that it is the right one..." -Himura Mina  
  


Author's Note: Hold on to those reviews until the next chapter, all right? It's slow at first, but things'll pick up in the next few chapters.


	2. Blue Sky White Clouds

Author's Note: Well, this chapter's pretty slow at first, but hey, things pick up later on. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of action in chapters to come, the fourth is guaranteed to have a nice long one. Anyway, if you're new to the "Crimson String" story, the entire tale is told in Mina's POV. Kenshin will appear in this fic if you're wondering, but it will be a while before that happens. If you're a K/K fan, don't worry, Mina won't get together with Kenshin, I have someone else for her.  
  


Chapter 1: Blue Sky, White Clouds  
  


"Hey part-time girl, can you go greet the customers at the door?"

"Hai!"

It had only been a day since I had left Kyoto, a day since I had began the life of a rurouni. The current date of my story is January 7, 1868, four days after the Meiji government gave the order to destroy the remnants of the Tokugawa Shogunate. I had already found myself low on funds, the money I had last received working for the Satsuma Clan was not enough to last me for even another day. Still, I did have some rations and water, but I thought it would be best if I filled my wallet a bit more in case I got tired of dried fish and jerky. Luckily I came across a small village that day, the inn was looking for part-timers to work in their kitchen and dining hall. The pay was one yen an hour, along with a free room for the night and free meals, not a bad deal I guess.

"Hello," I greeted the family at the door with the best smile I could put on my face, "will you all be eating together or separately today?"

This is how I mostly made my rounds during my travels, working at inns as a waitress or servant. The pay was decent at the time, and I usually got a free room for the night. I could also pick up some news in the dining hall as well by listening in to the customers' conversations.

"We'll be eating together, ma'am," one of the customers answered.

"Right this way, please," I lead the group to a table by a window.

It was a small family, one husband, a wife, and a baby boy. It was funny to see a family like this, the husband and wife looked about my age at the time which was sixteen. I was considered an adult now, but I still felt like a kid at the time. Maybe Kensai's brainwashing took away some years of maturing or whatever. I don't know what it was, but seeing that couple kind of reminded me of Shinta and me. Both of us were always happy together, planning what we were going to do after the Revolution. We were both supposed to travel around Japan together as rurounies, and Shion was going to tag along too. Shinta, I could never stop thinking about him, and this happy family standing before me didn't help either. Families and couples like them always make me think what could've been between my brother and me, it just hurt me to see others given happiness I more than rightfully deserve.

With a sigh, I turned away from the young family, making my way back into the kitchen. 

"Do you think that sword on the waitress's belt is real?" I overheard from one of the customers at the bar area.

"Nah, why would they have a woman dress up as a samurai, especially with the times they are now," another customer responded. "I gotta admit though, she does look kinda like that one hitokiri all the ex-Shogunate supporters are talking about."

"You mean Hitokiri Battousai?" the first customer asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

I turned to the sword on my belt, the end of the hilt reflecting a speck of sunlight as I laid eyes on it, filling my pupils with my visage. Of course the sword was real, but I couldn't let anyone know that, they'd probably think I was picking a fight or something. Even if I did draw it, my opponents would probably mock me for carrying around a sakabatou, laughing at how it's blade is on the wrong edge. All the thieves, bandits, and other men that tried to attack me on my journey thus far did, and they soon found themselves eating dirt after. I could never shed blood with this blade, there was no more need to do so, there was no need to bring more rain to the Sanzu. Blood, that was probably the color of my hair now. I mean, it was always red in the first place, but after being showered with the ruby elixir for so long, the shade of my hair must now have been a dark scarlet. My eyes were still of the same shade however, a light lavender a color, the same color as Shinta's. We really could pass as brother and sister, after all, we shared the same appearance, minus the placement of our scars.

Scars, the scars Shinta and I shared were different than others. His was a scar that was marked on his left cheek, mine was over my left eye. The cross-shaped tear, that is what Kensai called our scar, it resembled the bond we once shared, it resembled the pain that I caused others. Kensai inflicted this wound upon me, the mark would sometimes sear during the Revolution if I had not done what she had asked. The wound was never apparent until now, I'm sure every man I've come across has been pushed away from me because of this cross. Funny, I never really realized how my clothing reflected my scars. 

I always wore a white kimono with black lining that traveled up the sides of my kimono and sleeves, it also covered the top half of my kimono. I didn't like to wear those baggy hamakas that most soldiers wore, I always like wearing the bottom half of the kimono like most Japanese women, it showed off my legs, something I couldn't do back in the Revolution. There was a red belt that came with my outfit, it was wide enough to cover my stomach but it didn't stop directly below my bust like most women's belts did. There was also a sakura flower design on the right side of my kimono's bottom half, it seemed out of place, but it looked kind of cute in my opinion. The white represented the times before I was under Kensai's influence, the black represented the darkness I went through under her spell. The sakura design was just a random thing, I'm not sure what it represents. Heck, I don't even know why I said why my clothes represented my scars. Oh well, whatever.

"What do you mean you can't put it on my tab?!" the yelling of one of the men at the bar area soon filled my ears.

'This isn't good...,' I sighed as I began making my way back into the dining area.

"Gomen nesai, but your tab has already exceeded the maximum limit of five hundred yen," the waitress tried explaining, "the restaurant's policy is..."

"I don't give a crap about the restaurant's policy!" the man yelled at the waitress in a drunken rage. "Put it on my tab or I'll...!"

"Can you keep it down over there?" the man I had just given a table to asked from the other side of the room.

"What was that you son of a...!"

"Let's watch our language, shall we?" I interrupted the man before he could mutter a swear. "Some people are trying to enjoy their meals peacefully, that they are."

"The hell do you think you're talkin' to, Lady?!" the drunken man spat at me.

"Your breath reeks of alcohol, that it does," I said as my fingers pinched against my nostrils.

"You think you're so funny, don't ya?! I oughta...!"

"Is there a problem here?" the manager suddenly appeared.

"I can handle it, sir," I assured him. "If you can't pay for your bill, you can at least keep your mouth shut and allow the rest of the restaurants occupants to enjoy their meal peacefully."

"Che, who the hell do you think you are talkin' to me like a kid?!" the drunk took hold of my collar.

The sake this man was drinking had definitely poisoned his mind, I could see it in his eyes. His grip around my kimono's collar was firm, his fingers were ready to tear it or any part of my body that was close by. Rivers of sweat were traveling down his brow and arms, the cool streams falling onto my wrist as he held me. His eyebrows were arched and his eyes narrowed, the alcohol had already taken hold of his personality, there was no way this was going to end peacefully.

"I suggest you let me go otherwise I might retaliate," my patience began to dwindle at that moment.

"You gonna bust out that sword of yours or something you wanna-be samurai?" the drunk taunted.

"Part-time girl, you really should..."

"Sir, I can handle this," I assured the manager once more.

"Handle it as well as I handle your face!"

The drunk had raised his other hand in front of my face at that moment, his fingers curling against his palm and his thumb locking them in. The hold on my collar had tightened, just as the rush of air began slicing against my face. My breath was beginning to touch his knuckles, but they traveled no further when I finally took action.

My left hand had traveled to the hilt of sakabatou at the very moment his fist rested before my face, my arm pushing forward so that the end of the handle met with the drunk's abdomen. The man's fist suddenly stopped levitating, dropping to his body's side as it hunched over. His eyes were as wide as his mouth, I swear you could fit an entire fish in there with that expression on his face. My foot then jumped forward, my toes striking against the man's chin and straightening his figure once more. Gravity took it's toll soon after my kick, dragging his entire body to the floor.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Hai-Ryu-Sen," I chanted my attack's name as I slid the blade back into my belt.

"You bitch!" the drunk suddenly returned to his feet.

"Didn't I tell you to watch your language?!" I yelled at my opponent.

The man's hand began drifting into the sleeve of his kimono, removing a sanded piece of bark from his clothing. His left hand began to pull on one end of the short stick as his right began to reveal a shimmer of steel as the stick extended. The stick had extended a small distance away until one half had fallen to the floor and the half with the small slab of metal still remained in his right.

"A tanto?" I looked at the drunk's weapon.

Shuffling began to fill my ears as soon as the knife was revealed, the occupants were obviously frightened by the puny weapon. Even the manager had left, I suppose none of them had lived through the hell that was the Meiji Revolution, a tanto wouldn't have even been considered a threat. With the restaurant now empty, I wouldn't have to worry about having any bystanders getting the way.

"Looks like it's just you and me, girl," a smirk stretched across the man's face. "Let's dance!"

"I hope you know how stupid you sound," I remarked.

I wanted to end this battle quickly, some poor civilian might accidentally stumble into the restaurant if this was to go on for a some time. There were a number of attacks I could think of that could easily dispose of this man, but some could give harm to the restaurant itself, cutting down on my pay check. There was only one real attack I could do that could prevent any property damage, and it was...

"Die!" the drunk suddenly charged forward.

My eyes widened at the sight of his attack. His right hand firmly cradling the knife as his palm took hold of the bottom. The edge was sharp enough to pierce even the strongest of blades, but it would be useless after what I had done. My right hand quickly took hold of my sakabatou's hilt as my legs arched forward. The steel slab quickly flew out of it's oak restraint, digging into the drunk's ribs. The metal object in his hands quickly dropped to the floor as I pushed the reverse-blade further into his body. The mass that held my blade in place suddenly disappeared and the drunk's body suddenly flew out of the restaurant via the entrance. A loud thud erupted in the entire area and clouds of dust began to fill the area outside. As the clouds began to disappear, I could see my opponent lying with his eyes shut and mouth wide open, but his chest was still heaving. Again, I had fought a battle to the death and I had spared my opponent's life, just what I had wanted. My eyes then shifted back to the reverse-blade in my hands, there was still not a drop of blood on it.

"Don't come back until you pay your tab!" I yelled at the man as I sheathed my weapon.

"Whoa, did you see that?" spectators began encircling the area.

"That girl, did she...?" was another reaction.

"Nice job, part-timer," the manager approached me seconds later.

"He was nothing compared to what I've faced in the war," I suddenly blabbed.

'Shit!' I quickly shut my mouth after my last comment. 'That wasn't very smart of me, this guy might find out who I really am and turn me in to the government!'

"The war?" the manager asked. "I suppose so, a traveler such as yourself must've faced the likes of the Shinsengumi or the Ishin Shishi during your travels."

"Yeah, that's exactly right," I quickly followed up.

"I can't thank you enough part-timer, as a matter of fact, I'm throwing in ten more yen to your payment tomorrow," the manager added.

"Arigatou, sir," I bowed.

"Now let's go back in and clean the place up," the manager ordered.

The rest of the day was rather dull, not another soul dared to try and start another ruckus. The entire inn was silent as I served customers, everyone must've been frightened of me. I didn't like the fact that I was scaring people, it reminded me too much of the Revolution, that it did. The Revolution, after participating in the living hell that was Kyoto, I now wonder which side was really good and which was evil. I don't want to get too much into this right now, even I don't know the answer to this day.

It was rather relaxing when I was finally able to get off work, it was about midnight when the manager told me to call it a day. The first thing I wanted to do was take a bath, the smell of fried fish was very apparent on my body. The bath house was empty when I got in, maybe the other women scrambled out when they knew I was on my break. Steam was rising from the translucent pool, the entire bath house was engulfed in the thin clouds. A warm bath, the perfect way to get the smell of fish off of my body. It was soothing to lay in that steaming pool, the feel of the water put my body at ease. My eyes couldn't help but linger to the ceiling as I lay there, observing every little speck of the steam clouds. Just staring into the clouds began to add weight onto my eye lids, it had been a long day, but at least I earned twenty yen. The darkness was coming closer with every second I blinked my eyes, soon my eyes would open no more.

Ting! The sound of metal barely made it's way into my ear. Ting! Another scratch of steel, this one louder than the last. Ting! A third screech, my face couldn't help but scrunch at the sound. Ting! The sound was growing closer. TING!

"Is that all you can do?" I suddenly found myself amidst several men.

The blackness had been stripped from my eyes, the walls and streets of Kyoto had taken their place. My breathing had changed, my chest was now heaving heavily. A weight was now prying my arms to the floor, it's steel curve dripping of a substance I knew too well. Navy blue rags were hanging from my shoulders and gray leggings wrapped around my legs.

"Hi...Hitokiri Kensai!" one of the men managed to stutter my nickname.

"Himura Mina!" another draws his blade with hesitation.

"Prepare yourself!" I yelled as I found my feet pushing me forward.

My arm suddenly swung forward, a flash of steel glimmering before my eyes as a blast of crimson followed. Another metal curve appeared, this one swinging at my neck. My knees then bent, bringing my form closer to the floor. Strands of red fell from my attacker's sword, just as a gush of scarlet liquid followed with the rise of my katana. The geyser had illuminated the night in a ruby red, I could see my remaining opponents quivering in fear. My eyes began to drift forward, counting each street tile until it laid sight onto the remaining men. All of them took a step back, their blades lowering an inch or two after. Just as the crimson light began to die, my feet pressed forward once more, my katana raised upward and slicing the wind. Steel met with flesh for a mere second, the cold kiss of death meeting with another within the blink of an eye, suckling away at his life from his neck. A clatter of metal meeting with stone followed with the withdrawal of my blade, the remaining men were trying to escape. My legs began to bunk, the wind slicing my face with each step my feet took. Their backs were within reach in an instant, there was no way they could have escaped. Again I swung, another blast of the ruby elixir erupted upon impact of my sword. A second swing followed, my katana's blade embedding itself into the ribs of another. Everywhere my arm turned, another gush of red would follow. Blood, blood, and more blood, it was such a common sight back then. When the geysers of red ended, I found myself staring at the newly tainted roads. My clothes were now tainted in the ruby substance, my hair hardened and sticking more closely to my body, my sword was heavier than ever, drenched in a heavy coat of scarlet.

"Well done," the clapping of hands suddenly entered my ears.

That voice, I knew it too well. Slowly I veered my head in it's direction, and there she was, the other soul that resided within me. That simper was perched upon her face as usual, her bright yellow eyes as narrow as a wolf's, her teeth as sharp as a knife's edge, and her hair as dark as blood.

"How can you say such a thing?" I asked her, returning the deed I had just done.

"It's all going to a good cause, is it not?" her dark chuckle began escaping her lips. "Each of these corpses are the steps to the path to find your brother again, are they not?"

"...hai, they are," I nodded after a small moment of hesitation.

At that very moment, I couldn't help but spring my neck forward, the scenery of Kyoto shifting back into the bath house in the blink of an eye. I found myself once again staring into the ceiling of the bath house, the steam of the pool was as thick as ever. My body began to loosen once more as I sank back into the piping water.

'A dream,' I assured myself, 'a dream, and nothing more, that it is.'

As I left the bath house, I couldn't help but continue thinking about that dream. My eyes drifted to my lavender ribbon as it lay in my hands. The ribbon, it was the only gift Shinta ever gave me, it meant a lot to me. It was more than a simple hair ornament, it was what kept Kensai's mind apart from my own. Kensai, it had only been two days since I last saw her, but her words were still fresh in my mind.

"You haven't seen the last of me, you can never get rid of me!" she said. "You need me! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You need me!"

'I don't need you,' I thought to myself as I tied my ribbon in my hair, 'I never needed you.'

I went to my room after, I would be leaving this place early the next day. The life of a rurouni, so far it has been nothing but lonely. At the time I couldn't help but think about the Revolution, I mean, not the Revolution itself, but the friends I had then. Tetsu, Shion, Shinta, they were always there for me. I was able to share my pain with them, and they knew exactly how I felt. Tetsu, he was such a good man, he had so much that I wanted; a loving family, a positive attitude, and many other things. Shion, my best friend, I only wish I could return the feelings she had for me. Shion, she said that she would travel with me, that we would meet in Nagoya in September. Shinta, my beloved Shinta, the man who took me in and raised me as his sister, if only he knew how I truly felt about him. Shinta, I'm still looking for you to this day, could you have perhaps forgotten about me now that... No, I can't say it, it's too soon.

'Everyone,' I thought to myself, 'I want to see everyone again.'

The life of a rurouni was a lonely one, I was already getting depressed even though it had only been a day since I left Kyoto. I sat at the corner of my room, my arms hugging my legs and my head meeting with my knees I was alone, all over again, just like that time Shinta and I were separated. I remember it all too well...

I can remember the roar of the cannons, the feel of dirt splattering onto my face, the burn in my hand as my brother dragged me. We were running for our lives, the Shogunate had managed to ship Western weaponry into Kyoto. Men from all sides were falling beneath our feet, their eyes often filled with nothing but white. The ground would rise for a moment after a sphere of black would meet with the earth, it's contents occasionally slicing my body. And then suddenly, I felt the ground below me rising, my fingers beginning to burn as they pulled away from my brother's hand. The wind was then pushing against my body, pushing as the ground suddenly disappeared before my feet. The moment my back met with the surface once more, everything went black.

'Shinta...,' his name barely escaped my lips as I held my knees closer.

"Mina-san," the last memory of Tetsu began to replay in my mind once more, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"No, you shouldn't be the one to apologize," I took hold of his hand, "I was being so rude to you after being separated from Kenshin. I was so angry at the time that I would blow up on anyone, please forgive me."

"Don't worry Mina-san," a weak smile curled on his lips, "it's all right. Maybe with you leaving the Ishin Shishi you can find your brother once more."

"My brother, but what about you? What about your family?" I asked him, trying to hold back the tears. "It's because of me that..."

"My boys are pretty strong, you of all people should know that," Tetsu tried to assure me. "I'm sure they'll be strong enough to go on without their father."

"Tetsu, please don't say that!" my hold on his hand tightened. "Your boys need you, I shouldn't have..."

"Mina-san, it was either you or me," he coughed. "This...is how war is. Everyone is fighting for the sake for another; you for your brother, me for my kids, everyone wants the best for their family..., for their friends..., for their...country. Unfortunately, not everyone can get the best, and so, only the ones who strive the most can achieve the best. Mina-san, you... strived to be with your brother so much, more than what I must have wanted my to have my kids live in a safe new era, and I... respect you for that...," his voice began to die.

"Tetsu...," his hold on my hand suddenly loosened. "Tetsu?!"

'Tetsu, what have I done?' I asked myself.

"This is 'Crimson String and the Four Destinies," my thoughts then turned to the last time I spoke with my best friend.

"I thought I could leave it with you once this job was done," Shion said, "you really liked that book so I thought it could be a going away present."

"Arigatou," I thanked her as I stuffed the book into my kimono.

"And I have another gift for you," her eyes turned to the ground, her toes circling the same area over and over again. "I know you're not into this kind of stuff, but..."

I knew how Shion felt about me, I knew what that gift was. With a sigh, I took Shion into my arms, wrapping her body around mine. My toes began pushing against the ground, allowing my eyes to meet with hers. Pushing back whatever thoughts I had, I quickly placed my lips upon hers. I remember the shock on her face as I kissed her, the shock quickly vanishing as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around me. That kiss, it meant so much to her, I'm just glad that it made her happy, even if it did sicken me.

"Was that what you wanted?" I asked after our lips separated.

"Arigatou, Mina!" she squeezed her body against mine once again.

"Don't read anything into it," I told her, trying my best not to spit out the contents of her mouth that remained, "I know that it meant so much to you that..."

"I know, Mina," Shion smiled as she began to release me, "and I thank you for that."

"I guess this is goodbye then."

"Yeah."

"Thank you for everything," I told her, trying to hold my tears back. "Goodbye, Shion."

"Goodbye, Mina," Shion called as I began to take my leave. "I love you!"

'Shion...,' I cried, hugging my legs tighter than before. 'September,' I remembered our promise, 'in September we'll see each other again, in Nagoya. But September seems so far off, I wish it could be now. Shinta, Shion, Tetsu, I want to see you all again. Tell me everything's okay like how you always do. Tell me this is all going to be over. Tell me what we're going to do once the war has ended. Please, just say something. Please...!'

The sobs would not cease, the tears could not be held back any longer. I wanted to see them all again, I wanted things to go back to the way they were. I didn't want... I just didn't want to be alone anymore. My cries and whines were the lullabies that put me to sleep that evening, and they would my constant companion during my long journey. Even now, the lullabies of my cries put me to sleep...

Chapter 1 Liner Notes  
  


What's with the title "Crimson String"?- The Japanese believe that two lovers are connected by "the Red String of Fate," and since Mina and Kenshin were hitokiries during the Revolution, the color of the string is now crimson because of all the blood they spilled. For all you Kenshin and Kaoru fans out there, don't worry, Mina won't end up with Kenshin, I've got someone else for Mina.  
  


What's with the name "Hitokiri Kensai"?- As we all know, Kenshin adopted Mina as his sister. As a result, Mina's nickname and alternate persona is Hitokiri Kensai as Kenshin is known as Hitokiri Battousai. Battousai comes from the word "Battoujutsu," a defensive sword style that samurai learn in conjunction with "Kenjutsu," which is an offensive sword style. If one only learns one style, they will be lacking in the other department in terms of defense or offense. Basically, one must know both sword styles to be equally rounded in battle, the same can be somewhat true with Mina and Kenshin during the Revolution.  
  


What's the "Sanzu" that Mina talks about in the prologue?- The Sanzu River is what's supposed to separate the living from the dead. The river is supposedly made of blood. If one crosses the Sanzu River, they would be considered dead and can't return to the world of the living.  
  


What does "hai," "gomen nesai," and "arigatou" mean?- "Hai" is translated into "yes" or something along the lines of it like "okay." "Gomen nesai" means "I'm very sorry," so "gomen" would just mean "sorry." "Arigatou" is how the Japanese say "thank you."  
  


So where are Kenshin and Shion at this time?- Kenshin is wandering Japan at the moment, though he's in a different place then Mina. Shion is elsewhere as well, she has her own problems at the moment. If you wish to see how she's doing, read my other fic, "When Angels Lost Their Wings," which is co-written by Crystal of ff.net. It's about Shion and Misanagi's adventures and will occasionally crossover with this fic. The story is rated "R" in case you can't find it.  
  


Next time: "During the Revolution, I have slain many men. Death was my constant companion during those hellish nights in Kyoto, but none of that matters for the challenge I'm about to face. A challenge where even the mightiest warrior can become a hapless wimp, where one's skill with the sword means nothing..." -Himura Mina  
  


Author's Note: Well, how was it? Sorry that it was kind of slow and stuff, but I swear the action will kick in the next few chapters. If you want, go ahead and leave me a review, but no flames!


	3. When the Sword Means Nothing

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait in updating, I was waiting for my co-author for "When Angels Lost Their Wings" to get her computer fixed so we can update that and this fic at the same time. Well, unfortunately, her computer's not fixed yet so I had to update both fics without her, but I got her permission to do so first. Anyway, this chapter is pretty slow, but I swear, I'll make it up to you with the next one, it has a lot more action in it and is more exciting. I'll update both fics within two weeks, finals are coming up soon so I need to study.  
  


Chapter 2: When the Sword Means Nothing  
  


Clang! The sound of metal striking against one another, it was always common since that day I left the farm when I was fourteen. The feel of the rough material of my sword clasped within my fingers no longer burns just as its weight no longer pulls my arms.

I turn to my opponent once more; my breath heavy, clothes tattered, and my body soaked in sweat and blood. My enemy is in the same condition as I am; the both of us seemed like we would fall at any moment. I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to fall, so I tightened the hold on my sword once more. My feet began shifting against the ground once more, each of them leaving their mark into the mossy surface. The metal curve in my hands began to sweep downward, stopping only after it struck the wind a mere second ago. It was halfway toward the ground, my opponent must've now been several feet away now. I could hear the sound of her fingers tightening, a small click echoed from her spear.

"Akai Chi Ryu, Guren Bara!" she screamed.

Her speed was faster than ever before; both of her blades were coming down from an angle. The grass and dirt below her feet suddenly shot forward in an instant, tainting my clothing in it's contents. There was only one attack that came into mind that could counter this, it would be my only hope for surviving.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Kuza-Ryu-Sen!"

The grass before my feet suddenly flashed backward, followed with a cloud of dust. My body felt as if it were flying for that mere second; I practically felt my face being sliced up by the wind as I ran. My sword was pointed forward with my arms extended and my elbows locked in a small angle. The blade of my sakabatou was practically an inch before my enemy's body before my arms began to move again. Three, three, and three, nine strikes in total, all done in a split second. Within the split second, I had not heard one thud but nine rings. My feet and hers suddenly came to stop after I realized I had missed each of the nine targets, my reverse-blade locked in angle with her weapon. I began pressing all my weight into my weapon as she began to do the same. My teeth began grinding against one another as my eyes narrowed; she had done the same. Neither of us were moving, it was obvious that both of us had tied in this contest of strength. A smile suddenly stretched across her face a second later, and then it happened. Her body suddenly shifted from its current position but her weapon had remained in place. Before I could realize what was going on, I suddenly found my opponent's arms aligned with my own and a body pressed against mine. The spear before me suddenly pushed forward, just inches before my neck, held in place with the raise of my arms thus using my sakabatou's hilt to shield my neck.

"It didn't have to turn out like this," she whispered into my ear. "We used to be such best friends you know."

Not a word came from my mouth as a response. I had to concentrate on keeping myself alive at that moment, not what I was supposed to say.

"We could've been something, Mina," she continued, "we could've taken this country for ourselves, taken it from the Tokugawa Shogunate, taken it from the Meiji Government, and most of all, taken it from the people."

"Shion...," my opponent's name barely escaped my lips.

That is when I woke up. My entire body was drenched with sweat and my heart beating against my chest. My mouth had become dry with the events that had just transpired in my slumber, something about it just wasn't right.

'Shion?' I recalled some memories of my best friend. 'Why were we fighting? Could it be that you're still possibly working for the Ishin Shishi? No..., it can't be, you just said... What was... No, just forget it, Mina,' I told myself, 'it's just a stupid dream, nothing else.'

It had been about a month since I left Kyoto, the date of my story now is February 14, Western Year 1868. This day was a very important one, not because of my dream, but because of someone I met that day, someone that would forever change my life.

'I tired myself out so much that I fell asleep,' I realized once I turned to my reverse-blade sword that lay just inches away from my hand. 'I must be pretty lucky to have fallen asleep in a forest and not get robbed. Kuza-Ryu-Sen,' my thought began to linger to the technique I used in my dream, 'since when did I learn that? Oh well, who cares, it just a dream, Mina. Just a dream...'

That's what I usually did when I was traveling, I trained. Shinta said that if I wanted to become stronger than him that I should be strong in my own way, and well, that's what I was doing, or at least what I wanted to do. Up to that point in my journey all I could practice were the skills that my brother had taught me, and maybe my Left-Handed Battoujutsu, but a majority of it was stuff I had not learned from anyone else but Shinta. At that point in my journey, I began questioning myself, questioning why I was traveling across the whole country. I would always tell myself that it was to find my brother, but my mind always lingered on the thought that I could probably just stay in one location and he'll wander over there eventually. I never did like that thought, just thinking about settling down in a city or small village working as a waitress, or to some lower extent, a prostitute, made me shiver. If I was going to settle down it would be with the man I love so we could start a family, I didn't want to live alone much less support myself.

'I must've been out for about an hour,' I turned to the sun to find it a few inches to the side where it was last.

My ears suddenly picked up the sound of shuffling a second later. The shuffling soon evolved into the sound of screams, followed by the crashing of feet. The rings of metal came into hearing in the next instant, along with the piercing of flesh.

'An ambush?' I quickly lifted my sword from it's place, my feet and ears guiding me to the source of the attack.

I shuffled through the forest as quickly as I could, my right arm pushing away every branch and bush I came across. With every step I took, the louder the screams and screeches became. Nothing but green and brown surrounded my eyes until I suddenly passed a stump soaked in red. My feet stopped for a moment so my eyes could get a view of the area; the body of a young man and a shattered sword lay only inches away from the stump. Out of instinct I ran to the young man, kneeling toward him to get a better glimpse of his condition.

"Hey, are you all right? I asked him.

I began to turn to the source of his wound, it was undoubtably on his gut; there was no way I could have saved the young man.

"My aunt and uncle...," he muttered, "my parents, cousins, and sisters... they're up ahead, please save them."

"All right," I nodded, "I'll save them. You can rest assured that I won't allow another member of your family to die."

"Arigatou...," he said before falling silent.

Without wasting another moment I began running toward the source of the chaos once more. Finally I came into a clearing, or what was supposed to be a clearing. Bodies of men and women were strewn across the path, the grass and trees painted with the ruby elixir of life. Slabs of metal were strewn across the floor and forestry, some rusted while others broken. A splash of crimson suddenly fell before my eyes a second later, another one of that man's family had been slaughtered before my eyes.

"Shit!" I cursed.

Bandits, the typical scum I encountered when I was wandering, how I hate them. Why can't these people just live decent lives like normal people? It didn't really matter what I thought at the moment, I had to prevent even more lives from being lost.

"Another one?!" one of the men readied his sword.

"Hold on, I'm not a bandit," I assured the man, "let me help you."

"Who the hell are you?!" the bandits' attention soon turned toward me.

My eyes narrowed at the sound of one of their voices. Without hesitation, I quickly freed my reverse-blade from it's oak restraint. The metal slab met with one of their faces, striking him between his eyes and sending him to the ground in the blink of an eye.

"Normally I would warn you about myself attacking," I responded, "but I'll make an exception this time. I won't show any of you any mercy, that I won't!"

My feet quickly sprang me forward once more, the metal slab held in my hand leading the way once more. Another thud fell upon my blade a second later, just as the sound metal slicing downward came from behind. In an instant I pulled my sheath out of my belt, catching several blades in the process. With a quick turn of my body, the blunt edge of my sword met with each of their torsos. My head veered to the sidelines for an instant just in time to find the family fleeing from the scene. Some of the bandits began chasing them soon after, and I tried to continue my pursuit only to be cut off by more of the thieves.

"Get out of my way!" I ordered.

Another flash of steel began to cover my vision once more. Blinded by the reflection of the sunlight's, I quickly stepped back. The steel slab barely missed me, it's edge now locked into the ground. With a rise of my arm, I struck the back of my blade with the one just an inch from my foot. A loud crash filled the area as one half of the curve flew into the air.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen!" I screamed, turning my body in a full circle using the force of my reverse-blade's swing.

Thump, thump, thump, one by one each of the individuals fell like gnats. All of them were still alive, but unconscious. I looked to my sakabatou once the deed was done, not a sliver of crimson had been stained upon it. It was just as I wanted. My sight soon turned back to where the family and the other bandits ran and again, I found my feet pushing me in that direction once more.

Ting, clang! The sounds were growing closer and closer with every step I took. Screeches of women and children grew clearer and clearer, all I could do at the moment was pray that I would get there on time. I found them all again, engaged in combat. Bodies were once again strewn across the ground, each of them soaking in a puddle of their own life. The sight of blood never brought out the best in me, just the smell of it made me sick to my stomach and made my blood boil.

"You're still alive?!" was the greeting I received from several of the bandits.

"It's punks like you that make me want to break my oath!" I yelled as I pushed my blade forward once more.

A loud crunch escaped one of the bandits' noses as I engraved the blunt edge of weapon into it. The winds began to swirl from the east and west at the same moment after, just as the shimmer of metal entered my vision yet again. Instantaneously I swung my arms to my sides causing my reverse-blade sword and it's sheath to strike both of my attackers. The two feel almost immediately and I turned my sights back to the family who were now huddling in a corner of the forest. There were only three of them now, a middle-aged man along with a boy that looked no older than twelve, both of them with a katana in hand and shielding a woman behind them.

"Give it up, Shizaku!" I overheard one of the bandits order the middle-aged man. "There's no way you can win!"

"Che, Hyoma hired you, didn't he?" the middle-aged man spat. "That traitor, selling out to the Meiji just for a position in the government."

"I could care less what quarrels you have with our boss," one of the bandits told the man, "just surrender now and I can assure you that you and the rest of your family will have a painless death."

"Dad...," the young boy next to the man looked to his father.

"Get out of here, Yuzuki," the man ordered the boy. "Take your mother out of here and head to the nearest town, is that understood?"

"But..."

"Don't worry, son," I called to the boy, "I'll make sure your dad won't die."

"You again?!" the bandits' attention turned toward me once more.

"Go on, get out of here!" the man ordered his family once again.

"You're not going anywhere!" one thief returned their attention to the fleeing family.

The bandit quickly unsheathed the sword on his belt, quickly sending it in the direction of the woman and child. There was definitely no time to react at that point, I could not defend the family from what happened next.

"Kazuya!" the woman screamed as the blade met with his spine.

"Son of a bitch!" I screamed as I charged toward the masses of bandits once more.

As soon as they were within range, I swung my blade down from an angle, striking one bandit in the shoulder. With a quick twist of my wrist, the steel curve rose once more striking a second bandit. The creaking of metal fell upon my ears again as my arms came to a stop. Again my arm rose in an angle, striking down one of the bandits to the floor, but the problem was, my ears had deceived me, there was one more bandit coming from behind. I readied my blade once more preparing to take on the onslaught only to find a flash of steel suddenly emit from the center of his chest. As the body fell into the now ruby ground, the steel slab and the one holding it collapsed as well. It was the man who was trying to protect his family, the wound inflicted upon his spine must have taken it's toll on him now.

"Shizaku-dono!" I ran to him, calling him by the name the bandits called him.

My arm barely caught his back, but his legs were already flat against the ground. A stream of crimson was flowing from his bow and lips, and his eyes were already shut.

"Who are you?" he asked in between coughs.

"A rurouni, sir," I answered, "my name is Hi...," I began to hesitate after realizing what commotion I may start if I said my name. "Mina," I answered a second later, "just Mina."

"Mina-san," he called my name, "may I ask you one favor?"

"Hai," I nodded.

"I'm not going to make it," he told me, "so I would like you to fulfill one simple request for me."

"What is it?"

"My family," he coughed, "make sure they're safe, at least one of them. Please... promise me you'll do this, promise me..."

"Don't worry, Shizaku-dono, I will," I assured him.

"I thank you," his voice began to go silent.

Just as I lowered the rest of his body to the ground, another scratch of metal entered my ears.

"What was...?" I turned to the source.

It was coming from the same direction where the rest of the Shizaku family ran. At the risk of being rude to the late Shizaku Kazuya, I left without another word. It was only within seconds I found the young boy and his mother once again surrounded by bandits. This time the boy was the only one shielding the woman, the sword in his quivering as he held it. I could see every drop of sweat that was pouring down his brow, I could practically hear his teeth grinding against each other, it was obvious that this boy was frightened, and I was the only one who could possibly save them.

"Yuzuki, don't!" the boy's mother ordered.

"I have to, Mom," the boy ignored her orders. "Dad's got his own problems and..."

"Your father will be here soon, just run!"

"I can't leave you here, Mother!" he yelled. "Not when..."

"How sickeningly sweet," one of the bandits began to approach the two.

The boy took a step back for a moment, only to spring forward in the next. The bandit before him simply stepped to the side and struck the hilt of his sword against his back.

"Yuzuki!" his mother screamed.

"You got guts, you know that kid!" the bandits began to surround the boy.

"That's enough!" I screamed not wanting to see anymore violence.

"Why can't this chick just die?!" the bandits turned their attention toward me once more.

"Wait a second," one of them stopped the others. "Red hair, cross-shaped scar over the left eye, it can't be..."

"What is it?" one of the bandits asked.

"I heard about this bitch during the war," the bandit began to explain, "she was one of the top assassins for the Ishin Shishi. They say that she never spared a single man, whether it was enemy or ally, she'd kill them all without hesitation. There were only two men said to have survived her attacks, and they were Saito Hajime and Okita Soushi of the Shinsengumi. This chick is the one they called Hitokiri Kensai!"

"Hitokiri Kensai?!" a shocked look suddenly fell upon everyone within the vicinity.

I never did like that name, and I never did like the hard truth of who I was during the Revolution, but that didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered was what was going on at that time.

"I do not go by that name any longer," I told the man calmly, "I am simply a rurouni, that I am, I have no wish to kill any of you. I do, however, wish to beat every last one of you to the ground after attacking this defenseless family, that I do!"

Again I charged into the fray without thinking, jumping in blindly having my sakabatou doing all the work. Not wasting a single moment or anything, my reverse-blade swung in every direction, swinging in each one at least ten times. I didn't care who or what I struck, I let my anger take a hold of me, just as I did not too long ago. Before I knew it, I was standing before a pile of unconscious bandits but not a drop of blood spilling from any of them. It was then that I remembered about the Shizaku family. I turned back to where the boy and his mother were, both of them had disappeared.

'Did they escape?' I asked myself.

I began to step over the pile of bodies, slowly walking down the path before me looking for any traces of the boy and his mother. A flash of black came from part of the forest, it quickly disappeared into the greenery within the blink of an eye. Stepping out of the path I hurried over to where I thought I saw the flash of black. There was nothing. A crunch soon entered my ear the next second, it was only a corner away. I turned on the nearest tree, and sure enough, there was the boy's mother, huddled against the trunk.

"Miss...?" I began to approach her.

"No, don't come any closer!" she screamed.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I assured her, "I'm just here to help."

"Help me go to the Sanzu!" she yelled. "I heard what those men said about you, Hitokiri Kensai!"

"It's true that I was Hitokiri Kensai during the war," I admitted, "but I can swear to you on my parents' grave that I am no longer that mass murderer, that I am not."

"Really...?" she began to calm down.

"Hai," I nodded. "You're safe now, that you are."

"...arigatou," she thanked me, settling back down against the tree.

I hadn't noticed up until that moment, but her belly was rather swollen. It was an odd sight for me at the time, I don't think I had ever seen a woman in this kind of condition before.

"Nani?" she asked, probably noticing where my eyes were drifting.

"Your stomach," I pointed, "it's..."

"What, you've never seen a pregnant woman before?" she asked. "I see...," she said after a small moment of silence.

'I'm not going to get that fat when I have a kid, am I?' I thought to myself.

"Oh!"

"What is it?" I asked as her breathing suddenly became rapid.

"My water..., I think it broke!" she exclaimed.

'Oh shit!' I exclaimed in my head. 'What the hell am I supposed to do?' I began to panic. 'I haven't seen a pregnant woman up until now, and all of a sudden she's giving birth. I bet she's going to ask me for help, but I don't even know what the hell to do!'

"Hurry do something!" she ordered.

"Oh right...," I tried keeping my cool. "Breath, okay," I began ordering her, remembering how I played doctor with my mother when I was a child.

Her breathing became even more rapid with my order. As she did, I began recalling even more what I did when I was a child. My memory was pretty hazy at the time, I mean, how am I supposed to remember every little detail when I was playing doctor with my mother. But then I remembered one thing that could help me, the book that Shion gave me, 'Crimson String and the Four Destinies.' Remembering the page where the childbirth scene had taken place, I quickly turned toward it, quickly skimming the text for the doctor's directions.

"Push, all right," I read through the book, "push as hard as you can!"

'This shouldn't take too long,' I breathed a sigh of relief.

Boy was I wrong. Before I knew it, the sun was beginning to set and she was still pushing. I was getting close to panicking but I decided that I should try and keep my cool as long as I could.

'Oh man, oh man, I don't know how long I can do this!' I thought to myself.

Shizaku-dono was pretty tired by now, she look exhausted, no, more than exhausted. I was beginning to worry about what happened to her son, I mean, the one that tried to protect her. I was pretty sure that he escaped, that's all I could hope for at the moment.

"It looks like you have one more push to go," I told her, finding the baby almost out of her system, "come on, after this you can finally get some rest."

"Hai...," she said between her pants, "rest..."

Another gasp and another push, it was the final one. With that, a small creature had escaped from her form. Ten fingers and ten toes and a cry that nearly broke my eardrums, the child was healthy. It was a boy, I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the newborn child. Taking the sharpened edge of blade, I slit the cord that was connecting the child to his mother's womb. I took the baby into my arms and showed the child's face to his mother.

"It's a healthy little boy!" I exclaimed. "Shizaku-dono, you should be proud of yourself!"

Nothing but silence escaped the new mother's lips. Her eyes were shut and her body was frozen, it didn't shrug. The smile on my face began to melt, something was definitely wrong. My fingers slowly found their place to her neck, not a beat had escaped it.

"Shizaku-dono...?"

My face turned to the moss below my knees, my eyes practically melting to the floor.

'I failed,' I told myself. 'Shizaku Kazuya-dono, I failed you, haven't I? Gomen nesai, I... Your son, your wife, I couldn't...'

The cries of the child in my arms suddenly caught my attention once more. The tears escaping his eyes, he was just born and he was already grieving for his family, it was such a shame. I brought the child to my heart and held him tightly, my hand running down his back trying to calm him.

"Don't cry," I whispered into the child's ear, "please don't cry. If you cry then I'll start...," I shut my eyes a moment before a tear could escape.

"My family, make sure they're safe," Shizaku Kazuya-dono's voice began echoing in my head once more, "at least one of them. Please..."

"At least one...," I turned to the new life that was in my arms.

The child's cries began dying the moment my eyes met with his. His whines slowly became coos and his flailing arms came to a stop. I can remember clearly what I was thinking at that moment, I felt sad and at the same time, I was happy. Just hearing the baby's gurgles made my lips curl but made my eyes water. This child had no family left, and I doubt there would've been anyone in the next village that wanted to take responsibility for him. No, that's not true, I'm sure there would have been someone, but there's something about this child that attracted me to him, something about his chocolate brown eyes, his tiny button nose, his chubby little face, his presence in general.

"I'll keep you safe," I told the child, "I'll feed you, clothe you, bathe you, take care of you. I'll do all those things and so much more because I... I'll be...your mother and you... will be my son, that you will."

I nestled the child against my heart once more as I took one last look at the boy's real mother. If only I had known what I was doing, I'm sure she would've survived. Yet, if she did survive, I would never have been able to live through this great experience, I can't imagine my life in any other way. Holding the young child reminded me of my mother, how she would always hold me like this when I was a child. We would be sitting by the fire cradling my head against her heart as I sat in her lap. She would sing me a lullaby as she rocked me, ever so slowly and gently until I fell asleep. Her heart was always so warm, I can remember counting each beat until I fell asleep. But Mother was gone now, I can no longer lean on her if I was feeling down. It was my turn now to be the mother, and my child would be that boy that was against my heart.

I took a few moments to cradle the child, what I felt when I rocked him is so indescribable. Such happiness and joy, those words aren't even close to half of how I felt as I rocked my son. My son, he's all grown up now, I just wish I can cradle him in my arms once more, I wish that... No, I'm getting ahead of myself here...

When he finally fell asleep, I returned to the clearing where the child's father was lid to rest. The unconscious masses that murdered his parents were gone now, they must've made their escape when Shizaku-dono went into labor. All that was left was a broken wagon and the bodies of his family.

"Forgive me for doing so," I apologized as I began rummaging through the wagon's contents.

What I found in the carriage wasn't much. There were a few rations and some tools, along with a few swords, but really caught my eye were some baby supplies. I guess the family was expecting Shizaku-dono to give birth soon. There was a rather odd thermos that had a nub at one end and a small hole at the tip, I was sure this is what was supposed to be used to feed the baby. There were some really small-sized clothes, some bigger than others. The smallest kimono was able to fit on my child, the others were probably supposed to be for when he grew a little bigger. I found a basket with strap on it and two large holes at the bottom, it was a backpack of some sort which I could use if I wanted to carry the child on my back. The rest of the stuff wasn't really anything useful, but there was this piece of paper stacked underneath all of the items.

"Ryosuke?" I read the inscription on the paper.

The family had already chosen a name for their child, it was obvious when I read this paper. They already had a notification letter for the Shinto shrine, all they really needed to do was go to a shrine and have the child blessed by the priest. I took the paper into my pocket and turned to my child once more.

"Ryosuke," I practiced his name on lips once more, "your name is Shizaku Ryosuke."

The child gurgled once more when I called his name. Shizaku Ryosuke, he was my first child and now my most faithful follower. It's not fair to call him my follower, he's my son. There I go again getting ahead of myself, I don't know why I've been doing this.

We left the forest soon after, but not after looking around the area for an hour in search of his elder brother. There was not a trace of him, I was sure that he probably escaped to the nearest village. I was wrong.

It was already dark when we had entered the village, there was barely anyone out. I asked the remaining few if they had seen Ryosuke's brother. Not one had seen the boy, it was then that I started to get worried. It was late, so decided to stay at the closest inn for the evening, besides, I don't think it would've been a good idea to go camping while taking care of a baby. We had gotten a rather small room that was only big enough to fit one futon and a table. I had no choice but share my bed with Ryosuke, and I had to make sure that I didn't accidentally roll on top of him in my sleep. I was so tired that evening, I thought I could just succumb to slumber in a second, damn was I wrong.

"WAAAHHHHH!" was the sound I woke up a minute only after the darkness had enveloped my eyes.

"Oh man...," I grumbled. "There, there,' it's okay," I tried cooing the baby as I wrapped him in my arms.

The wailing only seemed to grow louder as I continued rocking him. He seemed deaf to my voice as it didn't seem to be doing anything for him. I thought my eardrums were about to burst if he continued. He was quiet on our trip over to the village, and now all of a sudden he's louder than Kyoto during Ganjitsu.

"Is there a problem here?" the inn keeper knocked on my door as my eardrums were about to burst.

"I can't make my baby keep quiet," I answered.

"Let me see the child," the inn keeper entered our room.

What she did next surprised, like she knew exactly what to do. She took a thermos similar to the one I found out of her kimono and quickly placed it in the child's mouth. The wailing slowly died as she began feeding him. The smile of his began stretching across his face once more and his coos took the place of his wails.

"There, that should keep him silent for another hour or two," the inn keeper said as she handed the child back to me.

"Another hour or two?" I said puzzled.

"You're new at this, aren't you?" the inn keeper asked. "Trust me on this, you won't be getting any sleep in a long time."

"Great...," I mumbled.

"No one taught you anything when you had this child, right?" the inn keeper asked.

"Well... no actually," I answered.

"And I'm presuming he boy's father ran out on you, is that correct?" she added.

"Are you kidding me?!" I retorted. "I'm only sixteen, there's no way I can have a child at my age! Besides, I only adopted the child today after his parents..."

"I see. I guess you'll have to learn the hard way," she said as she returned Ryosuke into my arms.

She left soon after that, taking the thermos with her. I never thought that raising a child would be so difficult until then; I thought I had gone through the hardest part of the parental phase after she had calmed my baby, but unfortunately, this was only the beginning.

The next time I woke up must've been about two minutes later, this time it was a foul odor that awoke me.

"Oh God dammit!" I cussed when I realized where the smell was coming from.

I took Ryosuke to the bath house a second later, laying him in a corner as I washed his clothing. Washing human waste out of a kimono is not fun at all, I was wishing that the child could just hurry up and grow up at the moment. Washing the child was easier luckily, but he tended to splash around quite a bit in the pool. As soon as I finished with my duties, I dressed Ryosuke up once more and headed back to the room. It wasn't even an hour later when he began crying again. I went down to the kitchen this time and filled the thermos with milk and then returned to my room to feed it to the child. Milk was going to be added to my tab, I had already spent about one fourth of my wallet already just to pay for the room and tomorrow's meal and now I had to pay an eighth to go with it. I thought he would be silent after that feeding, but I was wrong. 

I must've only gotten five minutes of sleep that entire evening, my tab was now big enough to take up my whole wallet and maybe a bit more. I needed another part-time job already, it had only been about a day or two since I last worked. Luckily the inn keeper was looking for part-timers at the time, the pay was fairly decent. Three yen an hour, all I had to do was work in the kitchen. Luckily the inn keeper offered to take care of Ryosuke while I tended to the customers. In my condition at the time, I almost fell asleep at my post several times, but the customers' yelling would always wake me up. Night finally fell again and I had accumulated thirty six yen at the end of the day. The inn keeper was kind enough to let me stay at the inn for free for that night, though I would have to pay for food and milk.

I still couldn't get much sleep last night, but at least Ryosuke didn't wake me up as much during that evening, and I still had half my earnings after. I didn't want to work at the inn again for another day, so I decided that I should probably leave for the next village. I left the inn at noon, and Ryosuke was wailing again just as he did for the last two nights.

'I never knew being a parent could be so stressful,' I grumbled to myself as I carried the wailing child on my back. 'I wonder how Mom and Dad were able to deal with me? If I remember correctly, they were about my age when they had me.'

Ryosuke's cries were louder than ever, and the thermos was out of milk. I really wanted to just sew his lips together at the time, but of course, I didn't, it just wasn't right. My only solution to this problem was to find a dairy store of some sort, but I found something even better as I went through the village, a clinic.

'Maybe these guys'll have something,' I thought to myself as I entered the small building.

There weren't that many patients in the clinic luckily, and the nurses were kind enough to refill the milk thermos for free from their own supplies. It was great that I got a free refill, but God knows how long it would last. I was thinking that maybe the doctor could give me a longer lasting solution.

"Mina-san," one of the nurses called a few minutes later, "the doctor will see you know."

"All right," I said. "Come on, Ryosuke," I bundled the baby into my arms.

To my surprise, the village doctor was a woman. I never actually saw one up until this point, the doctors I went to as a child and during the Revolution were all men. Regardless, I'm sure she would be more understanding with my current situation and all.

"Take a seat," the doctor ordered as soon as I entered.

"Hai," I took the nearest stool.

"So what seems to be the problem?" she asked.

"It's my baby," I answered, and at that very second, he began crying once more. "He keeps getting hungry so fast; I've already spent most of my wallet just to feed the child."

"How old is he?" the doctor asked.

"Three days old," I answered, "can't I give him something to stop making him eat so much?"

"Ha ha ha, you're kidding, right?" the doctor laughed. "Oh, you're serious...," her tone changed a second later. "Well let me just ask you this, how often do you nurse the child?"

"Nurse?" I said puzzled. "I'm sorry, but I don't really know anything in the medical field so..."

"When I say nurse, I mean breast-feed," the doctor explained.

"Bre...breast-feed...?" my body began to scrunch together at the mention of the doctor's words.

"I don't mean to sound rude when I say this, but that's what they're for, right?" she asked.

Again my body began to cramp. I never really thought about that until that moment, it sounded rather embarrassing. I mean, breast-feeding, putting one of my most sensitive areas in another's mouth was just... oh man, I even have trouble thinking about it now. Just the thought of...well, you know, made me cringe. Besides, how was that supposed to help my current situation, I didn't have any... Let's just move on...

"Um, well, you see...," I tried to explain my situation.

"I think I understand you're situation," the doctor began heading to the medicine cabinet on the other side of the room. "Take these!" a small pouch fell into my palms a second later.

"What is this?" I opened the bag to find some pills inside.

"These will make you lactate," the doctor explained.

"La...lac...," my body began scrunching even further.

"Take one at least once everyday until you're able to produce your own milk after feeding him after a few weeks," the doctor ordered.

"Um...okay...," I slowly began to pocket the pouch and placing one pill into my mouth.

"They'll begin working an hour after you take them," the doctor continued.

"Um... thanks, I guess," I began to creep away.

"Wait!" the doctor called. "There's some other things you have to do."

'This can't get any worse!' my face must've been so red from embarrassment.

There were so many guidelines the doctor went through, just remembering them all makes me cringe. During her entire lecture, I couldn't help but stare at the floor, but I would be forced to look back up at the doctor if she noticed. My entire body felt like it had been in a furnace after I left the clinic, my skin was also tanned a bright red. I couldn't help but notice Ryosuke gurgling during the entire lecture and when we left the clinic, I'm sure he was mocking me.

'Shit, what have I gotten myself into?' I asked myself as I returned to my trip.

Ryosuke's cries once again interrupted my thoughts at that moment. We were almost out of town and he was already beginning to cry.

"Can you stop crying, please?" I sighed as I took the child into my arms. "Look, if you're hungry, you're going to have to wait another thirty minutes. Can't you be quiet until then?" I asked and he suddenly fell silent. "That's better."

There was one more stop we had to make before we could leave the village, and it was the local Shinto Shrine. With his family gone, I guess I had to be the one to tell his ancestors of their new descendent. It had been a while since I had gone to a shrine actually, I don't think I ever went one to pray ever since the Revolution began. Luckily there was one priest at the entrance, I wouldn't have to wait long to get my child blessed.

"A blessing?" he asked after I told him of my situation.

"Hai," I nodded, "I just thought I should inform his ancestors of their newest descendant."

"What is the child's name?" the priest began heading toward the shrine's bell.

"Shizaku Ryosuke," I handed him the piece of paper.

"Shizaku Ryosuke," he took the paper and hung it on the bell's rope.

The ceremony didn't take very long, a simple ring or two with the bell and then a quick prayer to his ancestors. After that, we were on the road. It had only been a few minutes of walking until his cries entered my ears again. He must've been psychic, half an hour had passed just like I told him when we left the clinic.

"I guess it's time then," I sighed.

My body began to grow limp as I slowly removed the child from his harness. I looked at him for a few moments and I could see my face glowing red from his tears. I nestled the child in my left arm and the fingers of my right began to take hold of the right side of my kimono. Shutting my eyes, I quickly tugged at the material, the air stinging my skin as it met with the wind. My right hand then drifted toward the back of my child's head, pushing toward the pink nub on my chest. Again I shut my eyes, waiting for what I thought would be a world of pain I never wanted to know. What followed next was quite a surprise. The cries had died and a soft pull came from one half of my chest. The pull was rather soothing, and the device that engulfed it was rather warm. Slowly, my eyes began to open, my right before my left. My eyes had turned to the small life nestled in my arms and chest, I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"So this is what it's like to be a mother," I said as I began to run my fingers through what little hair my baby had.

We sat there for a few moments just relaxing. I never really appreciated the flow of the winds until that moment, everything was just very serene. The sucking suddenly came to a stop when the wind died, a smile had been perched on baby's face once again. Another smile stretched across my face as I gazed into my baby's face, but it slowly melted away as the winds returned. I covered the bare half of my body once again and began walking down the path once more.

"Ryosuke...," I whispered my child's name as I rocked him in my arms, "my Ryosuke..."

"That child is not your's!" a voice suddenly boomed.

"Nani?!" I quickly turned around to find several flashes of steel to appear before me.

It was the bandits from the other day. All of them black and bruised, but other than that, it didn't seem like they were hindered at all. I hugged my child tighter as more flashes of metal entered my vision. I soon found ourselves surrounded, each of the individuals holding some sort of weapon.

"Hand the child over, rurouni!" one of the bandits stepped up.

"Never!" I yelled as my grip on Ryosuke tightened.

"Do you know who this child is, woman?!" the bandit asked. "He is the sole survivor of the Shizaku family, one of the most powerful samurai families during the Shogunate's rule."

"He's the sole survivor only because of what you did to his family!" I retorted.

"His family should have just bowed down to the new government otherwise they wouldn't have met their fate."

"So you guys are working for the Meiji?!" I asked, my left hand drifting to the weapon on my belt.

"Far from it," the bandit answered. "Let's just say that we work for someone who works for the new regime."

"Someone named Hyoma, correct?" I asked.

"Hand the child over and we'll guarantee your life, Hitokiri Kensai!" the bandit ordered once more.

"I didn't earn the name Hitokiri Kensai for nothing, that I didn't," I informed the man. "All of you are nothing but ants to me compared to the men I fought during the war."

"Cocky bitch!" the man spat.

The man charged forward with his blade taking the lead. His actions were anticipated before he even made them. I waited for the man to come a bit more forward before I struck, my finger twitching as they hovered above my weapon's hilt. The moment his eyes met mine is when sprang forward. My right arm pulled my child closer to my body as my left removed my reverse-blade sword from it's oak restraint. A loud crash echoed the area and as a thud followed a split second after. I turned back to my opponent to find him holding half a katana in his hands and his body slowly dropping to the floor. My fingers tightened against my blade a moment after and suddenly flashes of metal came from all sides. They were all trying to box me in, but of course I wouldn't let that happen.

"Ready, Ryosuke?" I asked my child.

Each of the steel blades sprung forward in the same instant, each of their tips meeting with another of their comrades' swords. My feet had lifted me and Ryosuke into the heavens just a split second before any of their blades had touched, our heads were in the clouds for only a second until we began plummeting back down. I held my child closer with each inch that we dropped while switching the position of blade so that the hilt was now pointing toward the ground.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu!" I screamed, catching the attention of the bandits once more. "Ryu-Tsui!" I brought my blade down on the skull of the first man that came within range. "Shou-Sen!" I turned around, striking the next man I saw directly underneath the chin.

The two bandits fell quickly as the rest began to step away, lowering their weapons. A click suddenly echoed in my ears a moment later, there was still one more who wanted to play the role of the hero. I twisted my legs a moment after the click, turning my body with the twist. A glimpse of a curved piece of metal entered my vision as we spun, finding ourselves behind the man who tried to strike us.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen-Kagarashi!" I yelled as I brought the blunt end of my weapon to the back of the man's skull. "Tsumuji!" I continued spinning, striking another batch of bandits in the process. "Arashi!" my body began to flip forward, my left arm extended and my right still holding onto my child.

Another symphony of thumps and crunches echoes in my ears as I spiraled forward, ending only when my feet met with the ground once more. I turned back to where all the men once stood, all of them now piled on top of one another just as I had them stacked the other day. I turned to the small life cradled in my arm after, a small stretched across his lips as his hands clapped against one another. I turned to my sakabatou after, still not a drop of blood had tainted it.

"Come on, Ryosuke," I smiled at the child, sliding my weapon back into it's sheath at the same time, "let's go."

"Wait!" a muffled voice echoed in the pile of bodies.

My head quickly shot back to the mountain of bodies as my fingers once again took hold of my reverse-blade. One of the bodies began crawling out of the stack, pulling against the others just so he can stand. Even when he was on his feet, his legs were still wobbly, it looked like he was about to fall in any second.

"You may have defeated us," he coughed, "but our boss won't rest until that kid's dead!"

"Tell your boss he can go to hell!" I spat.

"Hell?" the man chuckled. "He has already visited the dark realm. In fact, he was born there."

"Nani?! What the hell are you talking about?!" I yelled, confused on the man's response.

"You know nothing about the Shizaku family and Hyoma-sama's background, do you?" the man asked. "I'm telling you, Kensai, this is something even a hitokiri of your caliber shouldn't be involved with. You should've minded your own business."

"Fuck you!" I spat again. "This is my business! I can't just stand around and let men like you have your way!"

"You'll regret taking that boy with you," the man began to laugh. "He is nothing but an omen that is too cruel for this world."

"What do you mean?!" I yelled at the man, only to have him fall back to the floor in the next second. "Bastard!" I ran back to him, pulling him up by taking a handful of his hair. "Just what the hell are you talking about?!"

Silence was my answer. I gave up at the very instant, tossing his face back into the road. I looked back the child, a smile still stretched across his face. I began pondering at that moment just what that man meant. The history of the Shizaku family and this man Hyoma, it had nothing to do with me, even if I was taking the newest child of the Shizaku family with me. At least that's what I thought at the time. My adoption of Ryosuke would later turn out to be an omen for many things, but at the same time, it was blessing for others.

"Come on, Ryosuke," I told the child, "we have a long way ahead of us, that we do."

Chapter 2 Liner Notes  
  


What does "nani" mean?- "Nani" in Japanese means "what" in English. Pretty simple huh?  
  


The origin of Shizaku Ryosuke- Well, we got a new character now for the "Crimson String Trilogy," and a very important one at that. Those who read "The Twin Dragon Arc" remember his role right? Well it will be even greater here as he grows up, and don't expect things to turn out the same way they did in "The Twin Dragon Arc." Events will be played out differently, such as Ryosuke's origin which we just read. Yes, we will see Ryosuke's brother again in this book, and this "Hyoma" character, but that won't be until much later on. Anyway, Ryosuke's family name is a tribute to two things. "Death" and "four" are the English translations of "Shi," while "zaku" is a tribute to some of the Zeon mecha found in the original Gundam series. The name "Ryosuke" is a tribute to two characters, "Ryu" of the Street Fighter video game series and "Kyosuke" of the Rival Schools video game series. His character is modeled after Yahiko later on, but with a touch of Kenshin. Basically he's got a lot of pride but he thinks things through before taking action. He's also not very quick-tempered as you'll see later on.  
  


What's "Ganjitsu"?- Ganjitsu is Japanese for "New Year's Day." It's celebrated by decorating the home, sending greeting cards, and visiting friends.  
  


Next time: "The ruby elixir of life is abundant on her, her yellow eyes strike fear into the eyes of any man or woman who passes her. She is the remaining cub of the Alpha Dog of the Mibu Wolves, her innocence stripped away not so long after her birth. The child reminds me so much of myself not to long ago, can I save her before she is too far from salvation...?" -Himura Mina  
  


Author's Note: Well how was it? Sorry for it being slow and all, but I swear I'll make up for it in the next chapter. Anyway, go ahead and leave a review, but no flames or anything like that, okay. I guess that's it for now, check out "When Angels Lost Their Wings" if you can too, both this and that fic will cross paths in chapter five, so look out for it. Later people!


	4. Yellow and Blue The Eyes of a Cub

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait in updating folks, I was kind of in writer's block for a while. Anyway, with this chapter, we get another character introduced in the story. Like the last chapter, it's kind of slow, but things pick up later on in the chapter. I know stuff seems to be random so far in this fic, but the main plot will begin to appear in the next chapter. Well with that said, let's get on with the story.

  
  


Chapter 3: Yellow and Blue; The Eyes of a Cub

  
  


"I'm tired," I told the child harnessed to my back as we made our usual journey, "wanna take a break, Ryosuke?"

It had been two months since I had adopted Ryosuke, there was nothing but good times between the two of us. Luckily for me, he stopped crying as much as he did when he was younger, so I was finally able to get the sleep I desperately needed after about two weeks. He'd usually sleep with me, in fact, that's pretty much what he usually did. Ryosuke would only wake up if he was hungry or if he went to the bathroom.

"I'm pretty hungry too," I said as I took a seat against the nearest tree, "what about you?"

Silence, my little boy was sleeping. I admit that I enjoyed the silence, but it kind of made me lonely. A simple coo or gurgle would bring a smile to my face, even if he wasn't listening to me. Just hearing him make a sound made me feel like I was being listened to.

"Oh, I see," I smiled, "well I am, let's see what we have leftover...," I began to dig into my bag. "Let's see, we have some bread, dried fish, pork jerky, and my favorite, mochi"

It was obvious which article of food I chose. I quickly removed the pastry from my bag and brought it to my mouth. The strawberry filling inside the white paste exploded into my mouth, the sweet substance filling my being with bliss. I hadn't eaten mochi for a while, it was kind of a rare treat during our travels.

"Uh...," a soft gurgle echoed from the little life harnessed to my back.

"What, do you want some?" I asked. "Oh of course not," I chuckled, "you don't have any teeth yet. But you are hungry, aren't you?"

I had gotten accustomed to... well, you know, feeding him by now. His lips were always so soft and gentle when he plucked at my nipple, so warm too. Just sitting in a spot feeding him was heaven, it always made me relax. I'd often him when I was feeding myself, it was kind of hard if I had to eat something with chop sticks because I'd have to make sure my elbow didn't accidentally hit his head or anything.

"Hey, what have we got here?" I groaned at the sound of a passing individual.

I looked up to find several men with grins on their face and various forms of steel in their hands. Bandits, the typical scum I encountered, there were times I wish I could just kill them all without having to feel any guilt.

"Can I help you?" I tried to keep my cool.

"We were just wondering if we can have some of that," one of the men remarked.

"If you some mochi, I'm afraid you'll have to buy some with your own money," I told the man as I finished the pastry in my hand.

"What we want we can't get with money," one of the men began approaching me, "we can get it only through force"

'Here we go again,' I sighed as the man charged forward.

"It's a good thing you don't have teeth yet, right, Ryosuke?" I asked my baby who still rested against my bosom.

My fingers quickly wrapped around the hilt of my reverse-blade, my arm pulling it outward in the next second. Crunch, that was the sound that emitted from the man's ribs after the steel slab met with his body. The rest of the men began to take a step as I pulled the blade back to my side.

"Anyone else want some?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Go get her" one of the men pushed his remaining comrade.

His feet began to trip over one another as he suddenly fell forward. Because he was forced upon his ally to do this, I simply sighed and stuck my foot out where his next step was about to meet. Our ankles met for a mere second and his nose quickly led the way to one of the tree's roots. He passed out upon impact, it saved me some time and effort luckily. I turned to the remaining bandit who was beginning to shake in his knees. He began take a step back as my feet began pressing forward. One step followed, and then a second, my steps were beginning to become more rapid, becoming faster than the bandit's. Suddenly, his feet began to pick up the pace and his back took the place of his front. It was no matter for me how fast he ran because I was able to jump right in front of him in a mere second.

"Going somewhere?" I asked with my right arm still supporting my child and my left holding my sakabatou.

"Oh come on, lady," the man tried to negotiate, "we were just pulling your leg."

"Pull this" I yelled as I pushed my weapon forward.

Thunk The man fell to the ground like the rest of his comrades did with his mouth open and his eyes wide. At that very instant, I felt something loosening from part of my chest.

"All finished?" I smiled as I wiped the remaining contents away from my baby's lips. "You sure drink a lot, you know that," I cooed as I brought the child's nose against mine. "Yes you do, yes you do."

At that very moment, a soft tap suddenly fell onto my arm. Another tap followed, this one hitting my head. A third tap followed, and a fourth soon after. My attention then turned to the area above me, the cerulean sky was now painted a dark gray. Plip, another drop met with my cheek.

'Crap,' I thought to myself as the clouds began to rumble.

"Come on, Ryosuke, we should head to the nearest village, that we should."

Without wasting another moment, I took my bag into my left hand and my baby in my right, nestling him in the space between my skin and kimono. My feet began to pick up the pace one more, my feet digging into the sinking ground with every step. Water began running down my entire being, dragging me further into the ground. The sky began roaring moments later, and the space holding my child was already soaked within a minute. I got my child out of the space and brought him into the open using a rag in my bag to cover his forehead.

"Achoo" I sneezed a moment after.

'Times like this make me wish I bought an umbrella,' I thought to myself.

Ryosuke and I continued running down the muddy path, tripping nearly every step of the way. The road was full of craters and lakes, the water had easily seeped through my tabi after being drenched in those lakes for a mere second. As I began running further, I couldn't help but notice that the lightning was growing louder and louder, as if it were trying to keep me away from something. The winds suddenly began blowing violently a second later, practically slicing my skin as it began pushing me backward.

"Man, what's with the weather?" I asked as I tightened my hold on my son and belongings. "It was perfect just a moment ago, that it was."

My legs continued pushing through the force of the storm, staggering every step or so after my foot met with the ground for a mere second. A flash of light suddenly enter my vision, setting a nearby tree in flames. I couldn't help but watch the blaze for a mere second, only to turn away from it after the next flash. My feet quickly pushed away from the ground at that instant and my body began gliding with the wind for a few seconds. Now I was certain Fate was trying to keep me away from something not too far ahead.

'Typical,' my teeth clenched, 'Fate's always been against me, there's no way I'm gonna let it win.'

Began pressing forward again, ignoring the crashes of lightning and the blistering winds. The sound of steel crashing suddenly followed after the next crash of lightning. A scream then followed after the scratch subsided.

"Trouble already?" I released the hold on my bag and turned it to the hilt of my sakabatou once more. "Isn't this our day, Ryosuke?"

I began pressing toward the winds once more toward the source of the scream. Another crash of metal echoed in my ears, this one louder than the last. A second scream followed after, this time I could find the sound of flesh being pierced being accompanied by the cry. My entire body had been soaked and fatigued, but I was finally able to find two figures in the distance. One was much larger than the other, the smaller one was holding a steel slab that was about the same height as themself.

"No...," I heard the larger figure's plead, "please spare me, we didn't mean..."

Another cry suddenly entered my ears as the larger figure ahead of me fell to the floor. I turned to the smaller figure and their arms was still at their side and their sword's tip digging into the ground's surface. Finally, I came into view with the entire scene, finding several men and a women lying face first in the mud. Cuts were embedded into each of the individuals, but only the woman was resting in a puddle of crimson. I couldn't help but cover my mouth after seeing the various devices strewn on the floor, each of them were tools Kensai enjoyed using to torture her victims are she removed them from their bodies. My eyes shifted to each one before I finally turned to the individual in the middle of the mess. It was a young girl standing there, with a katana in her hand. Her long oak brown hair dragged down to her back, her eyes covered with her bangs. Her left hand was clenched in a fist, her right holding her blade tightly. The rain was dragging her floral white kimono toward the floor. Her feet were as bare as her teeth, which were wide open as if they were ready to bite. The weapon in her hands, that was what caught my attention. Despite all these men and their organs on the floor, the blade itself was not tainted in ruby at all.

"Hm?" she suddenly growled and her eyes met with mine.

For the first time since the Revolution, I could feel my heart pounding against my chest and my lungs out of breath. I found my legs shaking and my feet beginning to step back. Those eyes, so narrow and yellow, they looked so familiar, they looked like hers.

"My God...," were the only words that could escape my lips.

The girl began to step forward, her sword dragging along the muddied ground. I began to take another step back once more, my hold tightening around my child. Her eyes began narrowing further, and suddenly they widened. I suddenly found myself pushed to the floor with my back meeting with the muddied ground and my arms tightly wrapped around Ryosuke.

"Please don't kill us," I found myself pleading, "please..."

Fear, it had been so long since I felt it. I felt so helpless staring into those bright yellow pupils, it was exactly how I felt during my first kill. She began to step forward once more and my eyes began to shut. I was too scared to do anything, too scared to fight back. The sound of steel rising began to fill my ears and my hold on my child tightened more.

'Mother, Father, I'll be joining you soon,' I thought to myself, 'I'm sorry for not being able to make you proud during my short life.'

Just then, another crash of lightning fell, this time I felt a splash of mud following. Something was wrong, I did not hear the falling of her blade after the crash. I began to pull the darkness away with one eye at a time. Nothing but gray clouds entered my vision, the little girl had disappeared.

'What was that?' I asked as I pulled myself back to my feet.

I turned back to the cluttered corpses and found another body among the masses. It was the little girl, her body huddled close to the woman's body and her sword on the opposite side of the site. My feet suddenly began pulling me toward her, my legs shaking with each step I took. Finally I found myself staring down at her, her eyes shut and her fingers barely closed on one another. Her face, it was no longer intimidating, instead, it was frowning, as if she were crying.

"Mama...," a little voice escaped her lips.

'Mama?' I turned to the woman next to her.

I began to envision the events of what happened in my head. These men probably attacked her and her mother, and the girl's mother was killed during the ordeal. Then, out of a fit of rage, the girl attacked and killed these men.

"The poor thing," I began to tread my fingers down several strands of her hair.

I felt sorry for her, so I placed Ryosuke in his back harness and took the little girl into my arm. I then turned to the other side of the site toward the sword the little girl just used. The blade was standing up perfectly, planted in the earth. I began to approach, but suddenly a flash of crimson entered my vision.

"Kondou, are you running away?" I suddenly remembered my encounter with the Alpha Dog of the Shinsengumi.

'This sword,' I took it into my left hand, 'this is...'

The Yurika Masamune, the legendary sword that Kondou Isami used and one of the few swords that the legendary swordsmith, Masamune, created during the early years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Shinta told me about those legendary blades often when we had nothing to talk about. It was said that this sword and its brothers were able to kill without shedding a drop of blood, but only those with a very strong ki could use it efficiently. But when she killed the last man, she didn't even raise her arm or anything, he just suddenly died. The whole thing just didn't make any sense to me at the time, so I simply shrugged it off and placed the sword into its sheath which rested nearby.

'What the?' sunlight suddenly began to enter my vision.

The sky began to clear up that moment, it just didn't make any sense. I turned back to the little girl resting in my arms and the legendary sword which rested along side my sakabatou.

'Could it be because of this girl?' I asked myself. 'Just who is she exactly?'

We arrived at the nearest village about ten minutes shortly after. It was a small country community, plenty of crops growing and a small bamboo thicket close by. The girl was passed out the entire time, and she remained so even after we checked at the inn. Luckily no one asked questions about me holding the unconscious girl, they must've thought I was her mother or something (I didn't even look old enough to be so at that time). I wanted to wash up and everything as soon as we got a room, but I thought it would be best to wait for the little girl to wake up first. I waited in one of the room's corner as I set her in one of the room's futons, watching her intently, waiting for those bright yellow pupils to open once more.

"Ugh...?" her body began moving after several minutes.

Her body began to rise and I pulled the Masamune closer to my side, there was no way I was going to let her touch it after what just happened. My left hand began to take hold of my sakabatou's hilt as her eyes began to open, only to have them release after I got a glimpse of her pupils.

'Blue?' I asked myself as I gazed into the shade of her eyes.

The yellow tint that painted her irises, it was completely gone, now replaced with a sky blue color. That sinister sneer on her face was gone as well, replaced with a look of puzzlement.

"Mama...?" she called as she shook her head.

"Are you all right?" I asked her.

"...who are you?" she asked after a moment of hesitation. "Where's Mama?"

'What the? Why is she asking me that?'

"I'm Mina," I answered, "you're mother..."

"Ugh" her palms began to bury her face once more. "No wait...," her head began to rise a moment later, "me and Mama were walking down the road and then..."

"I'm very sorry, that I am," I said as I hung my head in shame.

"Mama...," her head returned to her palms.

"We should leave her alone, Ryosuke," I said as I took my baby into my arms and left the room, along with the legendary sword.

The bath was rather warm and luckily no one else was attending as Ryosuke and I went in. I couldn't really enjoy myself unfortunately, my thoughts were instead transfixed on the events that just happened.

'It makes no sense,' I thought to myself as I sat there, holding Ryosuke so that only half of his body was submerged in the pool, 'they were yellow one moment and then blue the next. I know it wasn't my imagination, I know what I saw. Could it be because of this?' I took the Masamune into my right hand.

My thoughts began to linger back to that day in Kyoto, back to the day I encountered Kondou Isami, the Alpha Dog of the Mibu Wolves. I remembered the cold liquid dripping down my brow, the warm crimson fluid tainted on my sword and clothes, and the ruby red illumination of the moon that evening. Kyoto, there was not a day in that city in which it was painted with blood, and I was often the one who painted it's walls with the elixir of life, and that night was no different. I remember I started the confrontation, I began by charging at one of his men and bringing my blade into his skull. One of the Wolf's comrades then charged at me at the very moment I freed my blade. While his arms rose in the air, I simply pressed mine forward, plunging my katana through his torso and then pulling it upward until his skull sprayed a geyser of red. A third Wolf tried to attack after, but this time I managed to spin behind him and deliver a Ryu-Kan-Sen to his neck. Back then I didn't care how much blood I spilt, all that mattered was survival.

I remember turning back to my men, finding them falling before one Wolf in particular. His sky blue coat was drenched in ruby, and his sword was painted in the same color. When he swung his sword, it would not even touch his opponents, and for some reason, whoever he was targeting suddenly found themself in a puddle of blood in the next second.

"You there," he turned to me a second later, "are you in charge of these men?"

"I am," I answered as I took a step forward. "My name is Himura Mina, that it is, also known as Hitokiri Kensai."

"Hitokiri Kensai," he repeated, "the sister of the infamous Battousai? Then you must know who I am."

"Kondou Isami," I replied as I tightened the grip around my blade, "in the name of the Ishin Shishi I will..."

"Reinforcements" one of my surviving men had interrupted my speech.

"Shit" I bit my lip as I turned to the direction of the new pack.

"This battle will be postponed," Kondou said as he slid his legendary weapon back into its sheath.

We never did get that battle, not that I cared. He would later be captured by the Meiji Government and then be executed in November of the current year of my story.

'The girl can't be Kondou's daughter, can she?' my gaze returned to the Masamune. 'When Kondou used the Masamune, the sword spilt blood, but when the girl used it, there was none.'

"The Yurika Masamune is a bloodless weapon," I began recalling a conversation I had with Shinta back in the war.

"Then explain why there was blood when Kondou used it to slay my men last night, Kenshin," I asked him.

"If I can recall correctly, my master told me that only one with a very strong ki can use it properly," Shinta answered, "perhaps the Yurika Masamune didn't acknowledge Kondou's ki to be strong enough, that it didn't."

"That's weird," I responded, "Kondou seemed like a very skilled swordsman to me."

'There's no way a little girl like her can have that strong of a ki,' I thought to myself in the present, 'can there?'

Ryosuke and I returned to our room after, it was no longer muffled with cries. As soon as I slid the door open, my eyes linger to the northwest corner of the room where the little girl was now sitting with her head hanging low and her limbs sprawled.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked the little girl.

Her eyes were dry, and her body unmoving. I began approaching her, and she began to crawl even further into the corner.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I assured you. "It's because of this, isn't it?" I turned to the weapons on my belt. "There," I set the blades on the floor, "is this better?"

Again, she responded with silence, but this time she nodded her head instead of crawling further into the corner.

"Gomen," she apologized a second later.

"It's all right, that it is," I smiled as I took a seat next to her.

"...is that baby yours?" she asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Hai, he is," I answered, bringing him to my face's level. "I haven't introduced him yet, have I? This is Ryosuke, that he is, he's my little boy, only two months old. He's so cute, isn't he?" I asked as I rubbed his nose against mine.

"I guess," she answered with a smile stretching across her face. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure," I nodded, slowly placing the child in her arms, "be careful though."

"Wow, he's very light" her smile widened as she slowly began bouncing the baby in her arms, getting a small laugh from my baby in the process. "Hey little guy" she began petting his nose.

"May I ask your name, if it's not a problem that is," I asked as she continued to play with the younger child.

"Tamako," she answered. "Kondou Tamako."

'Kondou Tamako' my eyes widened by the sound of her name. 'So she is...'

"Is something wrong?" she asked a second later.

"No," I answered with the shake of my head, "it's nothing. So how old are you?" I decided to change the subject.

We spent the rest of the day talking, trying to get to know each other better. It was weird, for only a four year old, Tamako seemed to have the intelligence and manners of a fourteen year old. She knew all the kanji, katakana, and hiragana alphabets already at her young age. The child liked to talk, but there was thing I couldn't help notice as we spoke. Her eyes continued to linger to the Masamune which sat on the other side of the room with my sakabatou. I didn't think it was really important, I just thought she had wandering eyes like a normal four year old. There was another thing I noticed when we spoke, she didn't seem to stutter or breakdown like a normal person would if their parents were killed just a few hours ago. It was always like that during my experiences in the war, but why wasn't Tamako reacting in the same manner? I asked that to myself the entire time I spoke with her, but I had to brush it away a few hours later when the moon rose, all that mattered then was to get some sleep.

I had a dream that night, but it was more like a nightmare. I was walking down the city streets, my bag in hand and my sword on my belt, it seemed like a typical day. But then the sky began to darken, and the winds began to blow slowly. I turned to the sky for a moment, only to shrug off the image of the clouds and continued on my way as I normally would have.

"Is this what you do with all your problems nowadays," a voice I never wanted to hear again suddenly entered my ears, "you shrug them off?"

Slowly my head began to swerve in the direction of the voice. My hold on my bag began to linger suddenly as my eyes met with the person's feet. A drop of crimson began dripping from her gray and ragged hamaka, and another soon followed. My vision began rolling upward, following the crimson rivers flowing down her hamaka. I began to take a step back as a flash of steel soon caught my eye, held tightly in a fist not too far from the person's leg. It too was drenched in blood, as was the gi of her kimono. I could see her skin through a small gap in her gi, it looked as hard as a lizard's and covered in blood as well. My eyes continued upward, stopping before her yellow pupils and her crimson-red hair.

"K...Kensai?" her name barely escaped my lips.

"We meet again, Mina," she smirked.

"Wha...what do you want from me?" I stuttered.

"You've got quite a group now," she chuckled, "a little boy and a girl. What's wrong, can't wait to start your own family?"

"Those children need me now," I responded, "I can't be patient enough to wait for my own family. Besides, who knows what kind of creeps will go after my children if I were to leave them in another's hands."

"Your children?" Kensai's voice boomed. "Since when were they YOUR children? The boy's brother may be alive for all you know, and Kondou himself might escape from the Meiji Government's custody."

"But until that time arrives, these children are mine"

"Would they still be yours after they learned the truth of what you did to their parents?" her question shot to my heart.

"Che" I didn't know how to respond.

"Think of it, Ryosuke's mother could have survived if only you knew what you were doing," Kensai explained, "hell, I'm pretty sure you could've run into town and got a doctor to help."

"What happened couldn't be helped," I explained, "I..."

"Liar" Kensai yelled. 'You wanted that boy for yourself, didn't you?"

"It's true I wanted him, but not enough to..."

"And that girl, did you ever think of how she would react once she learned that you killed her brothers?"

"Her brothers?" I said puzzled. "Since when did I...?"

"Don't tell me that you thought Kondou was the only one in his family to be in the Shinsengumi."

"You mean..."

"Who do you think some of those 'steps' to find your brother were?" Kensai asked. "True they were all pieces of meat, but didn't it occur to you that they were someone's sons, their daughters, cousins, brothers, or sisters?"

"It's true I knew that, but I didn't think..."

"That's right, Mina, you didn't think."

"Why must you torment me even now?" I asked, turning my back to my doppleganger.

"I'm not tormenting you," a hand suddenly brushed against my chin, "I'm telling you the truth," she whispered as she turned my face to face hers.

"Just leave me alone," I quickly swerved my head away from hers. "The Revolution is over, I don't need you anymore."

"Mina, don't you remember what I told you," her face suddenly met with mine as soon as I turned, "you can never get rid of me. You...," her hand began running down my cheek, "need," her breath began dying as her lips began pushing toward mine, "me...," she whispered a centimeter before my lips.

"No, I don't" I yelled and suddenly I found myself staring at the ceiling of my room. "A dream?" I asked myself as I settled back into my futon.

Kensai, it had only been three months since I last saw her, and once again she had returned to torment me. This was obviously a big problem, if I were to remove my ribbon in the heat of battle just like in the Revolution, Kensai would most likely have turned the blade over on my sword and thus, break my oath never to kill again. Not only that, I was no longer by myself, I had children with me. Just what would they think if they were to see their "mother" commit such horrible acts? I couldn't even imagine what Kensai would do to them if that were to happen.

Taking in a deep sigh, the throbbing of my chest began to cool. The cool liquid running down my body had already begun to dry. My eyes began to linger around the area of the room, first turning to my side finding my baby sound asleep. My lips couldn't help but curl at the sight of his adorable face, but they straightened once more after my vision turned to the futon on the other side of the room.

"Tamako?" I hurried to the empty bed. "Tamako Shit, where...?"

Clang It was a sound I knew too well, the sound of a blade. I hurried over to the balcony of my room, leaning over the railing so that my eyes could get a small glimpse of a flash of steel. I could see nothing but green at first, the bamboo thicket before my eyes was fairly thick for its small size. After about five seconds of gazing, I suddenly found a small shimmer between the trees, as well as a tiny figure holding the curved slab.

"Tamako" I yelled, trying to get her attention.

The young girl didn't even bother to turn to me, instead, her figure slowly began fading within the thicket. She was obviously ignoring me, she was probably planning to go off on her own. Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly got my belongings and Ryosuke on my back, rushing into the thicket as fast as I could.

"Tamako" I called as soon as I entered the thicket. "Tamako"

Nothing but silence and the falling of leaves. I gritted my teeth in my failure to grab her attention, and began racing forward as fast as I can, continuing to call her name.

"Tamako Tamako"

It wasn't long until I stopped running. The little girl was only a few feet away with her back still turned and her sword dragging against the floor. A chill suddenly began to crawl up my spine at that moment, there was obviously something wrong with the little girl. The winds began blowing ever so gently a second later, but the silence was still there.

"Tamako...?" I called in almost a whisper.

At that moment, her steps suddenly came to a stop, but her back was still turned. She knew I was here now, she knew I was going to stop her from leaving this place alone. I knew at that moment things weren't going to go about peacefully, so I dropped by bag and wrapped Ryosuke in a blanket and set him a few inches away from my belongings.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice somewhat deep when she spoke.

It was the same tone she used when I first encountered her the other day. Her face slowly came into view as her body began turning in my direction. Her teeth were bared, her eyes narrowed, and her pupils no longer blue, but a bright golden color. The hold on her sword was tight, clenched in a fist. Her other hand was grasping the blade's sheath tightly as well, I could see her fingers almost trembling from the pressure. Despite the impression she was giving me, I decided to try and hold my ground this time.

"Tamako, where are you going?" I asked, trying my best to keep my calm.

"It doesn't concern you," she answered in a monotone voice, turning her back on me once more, "now leave."

"Tamako, of course this concerns me, I can't just let you..."

"I told you to leave," she interrupted.

"No," I answered, raising my voice, "I won't I won't let you leave here all by yourself"

"I can't allow you to leave either then," she responded.

"What do you mean?" I asked as my left hand took hold of my weapon's scabbard.

"I know all about you, Hitokiri Kensai."

"Nani?"

"I know about the legions of men you killed, the men and women you tortured, and the brothers you took away from me, I know all about that."

"How do...?"

"My father told me many things about you, Kensai," her head began swerving toward me once more. "And although he is not here right now, I'm sure I'll make him proud by taking your head"

"What the?" the girl's figure suddenly disappeared from my eyes. "Above?" I realized her location a moment later.

My fingers quickly wrapped around the hilt of my reverse-blade and quickly drew it upward in time to catch the little girl's attack. After the initial crash, her tiny form suddenly flipped forward, her feet landing a few inches away from my back. I could feel another gust blowing in my direction from behind, so I quickly turned my body in its direction and brought my sakabatou forward. Another clash of metal erupted for a second and both of our blades began to lock. The child obviously knew how to fight despite her young age, her level was already beyond that of an average Shinsengumi soldier.

"I've been trained in my father's style since I was two," Tamako began to explain, "after you killed my brothers, it was apparent that I would be the only heir of the Kondou lineage."

The lock on our blades suddenly broke and I found myself suddenly tripping over my own feet. I regained my balance fairly quickly, but only to lose it in the next instant when the Masamune clashed with my sword once more.

"Father expected a lot out of me when we were all still together," she continued, "he wanted me to surpass the level of my brothers now that they are dead. He wanted me to exact revenge on the Ishin Shishi, the new Meiji Emperor, and you for all you've done"

Her blade rose to the air for a mere second before plummeting down. The blade had only slit the earth as I barely rolled out of harm's way. I had only been going on the defense for the entire fight so far, so I decided that I had to take some initiative and go offensive, despite the fact of how old she was. I quickly returned to my feet as I pushed my arms against the ground and raising my entire body in the air for a mere second before launching it backward. My feet stumbled for a few steps, but a bamboo tree caught me before I fell back down luckily. It was just in time to because I found the tip of the Masamune charging at me once more. My feet began twisting my body to the side at the last second, the sword had only impaled the tree. I suddenly found myself behind the little girl and her back was wide open. Without a moment of hesitation, I began to swing.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen" I screamed as I swung.

Nothing but air, Tamako had anticipated my attack and rolled to the side. She was obviously an experienced fighter, she was definitely the hardest fighter I had come across ever since I had started my journey thus far.

"Father always told me how he would become a key official in the Shogunate after we won the war," she continued, "he told about the things he would buy me, the places we would go, and the power we would have. But no, that won't happen now, thanks to the damage you have done The only thing I can do now is achieve that power myself"

"Nani?" the winds from yesterday began blowing once more.

Trees suddenly began snapping from their roots and leaves began swirling in my direction. I shut my eyes for a mere moment, only to have them widen once I found the giant green reeds flying at me. I swung my blade at about half of them, only to jump to the side to avoid the rest. I turned my attention back to the young girl to find the winds swirling around her and even more trees flying at my direction. Again I dodged the incoming assault, but now even more objects were hurled at me from afar. I continued to swat the objects away but my attention stayed on the little girl.

'Such a tremendous ki' I thought to myself. 'I don't think I've encountered anyone whose ki was even half as strong as hers.'

"Die" she yelled and even more trees began flying at me at full force.

"Do-Ryu-Sen" I countered by striking the earth and sending the debris in the onslaught's direction. "Naze, Tamako?" I asked as I began reclaiming my lost breath. "Why do wish to exact vengeance so badly? Why do you want power?"

"Naze? Don't ask me that question, Mina" she barked. "You know damn well why You ruined my life, that's why You destroyed what I could have had I knew all along who you really were, I just had to buy some time yesterday so that I could escape this morning. Why didn't I kill you on the spot while you were sleeping, it's because I would rather have gone to Edo and rescued my father first Then we could have exacted vengeance together, then we could return this country's rule over to the Shogunate"

"That's only a delusion, Tamako" I responded. "Even if you were to free your father and return Japan to the Shogunate's rule, you'd end many lives in the process. You'll kill so many only to allow so few can live Your hands would be stained in so much blood, Tamako, so much that even all of the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes couldn't wash it away"

"Blood, that's very funny, Mina," the girl giggled. "The Masamune acknowledges my ki, blood will not come from my sword."

"That's not what I meant, Tamako" I yelled. "What I mean is that you'll kill too much that the guilt will begin to eat away at you from the inside. No matter what you do, and no matter how much you try to repent, you will always feel guilty. I know of this, because I..."

"Because you're nothing more than a blood-thirsty murderer" she interrupted. "You talk about guilt, you talk about redemption, but you know that no matter what you do, it will never make up for the lives you've taken"

"And the same will happen to you if you achieve your goal"

"People are only slabs of meat in the end, Mina," a grin crept across the girl's face once more, "guilt, redemption, none of that should matter. We all end up the same way in the end."

"Tamako, you are so disillusioned, that you are," I sighed. "As a representative of the people of Japan, I will make sure that you will not achieve your goal"

With that said, I began to spring forward once more. Another onslaught of trees began flying toward me once more. Again, I was able to swat each one of them away, but this time I had been caught off guard. A force suddenly exerted against my ribs, piercing my flesh and another suddenly took the sakabatou away from my hands. My body began to lean forward as my hand took hold of my ribs and my eyes turned to the young girl and my weapon that was now in her left hand.

"I will achieve my goal, Hitokiri Kensai," she smirked as her tiny figure grew closer, "I will rule Japan" the bladed-edge of my sword rose into the air.

The blade fell forward in nearly an instant and a river of crimson soon began traveling down its edge. Tamako's eyes suddenly widened at the sight of the red streak now crawling down the steel curve, her eyes transfixed on the blood dripping from my palm. I had caught the blade with my own hand at the last moment, gripping the blade tightly so that my own blood could run down its edge.

"Are your hands stained now, Tamako?" I yelled as the crimson rivers began seeping into her fingers. "Has this blood come from your sword?"

Her lips began to quiver as even more drops of crimson began staining her hand. My eyes continued to narrow as her eyes began to loosen, she was beginning to accept the truth for a moment, but then her eyes began to narrow once more.

"Baka," she responded, "this sword that you are holding is yours. The blood that drips on my palm can easily be washed by all of the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes. You speak of nothing but blasphemy."

"Maybe so...," I began to close my eyes.

I could hear the sound of another curve of metal rising in the air at that moment, she was going to finish me with the Masamune, and again, I didn't flinch. A loud cry suddenly burst into our ears at that moment, it was the wailing of a young child, my child. A click of metal echoed in my ears after, the sword had come to a halt a centimeter before my shoulder.

"...but are all men really slabs of meat, Tamako?" I continued as I remained in place. "What about Ryosuke over there, is he merely another slab of meat? He is my son, but to you, what is he, just another obstacle in your quest?"

Her blade began to lower at the moment and her head began to hand low. Her fingers on both weapons began to loosen until the metal curves clattered to the floor. Tamako knew she was defeated at the moment, I could see it her cerulean blue pupils.

"I...," a translucent stream began crawling down her cheek.

"Tamako," I slowly began to wrap my arms around her tiny body, "I know your father promised you many things when he was still around, that he did, and I know he only wanted the best for you. However, I don't think he, or your brothers for that matter, would like to see you suffer over the guilt you created if you were to achieve your goal. Time will pass, and eventually, these small hands will grow, that they will, and with those hands you will be able to build a future of your own without the spilling of blood. I know you will be able to do so, Tamako, I know that is what your father really wanted from you."

"Gomen nesai," her arms began to wrap around my body a second later, "I..."

"I know you will never be able to forgive for what I had done to your family," I told her, "but for now, let us try and get along, okay?"

"Hai," she nodded.

"Arigatou, Tamako," I thanked her.

"Yurika," she suddenly blurted.

"Nani?" I said puzzled.

"Call me 'Yurika,'" she repeated. "Ever since Daddy had been arrested, all the people ridiculed me and Mommy because they knew we were Kondous. Mommy was insistent on having us keep the Kondou name, but she paid for it with her life in the end. I want to honor my daddy's name, but I don't want to go through anymore pain like we did before. So when we are in public, or if anyone asks, can you call me by this name, Masa Yurika?"

"Masa Yurika," I practiced her alias for the first time. "Okay then, Yurika," I corrected myself as I began to release her from my hold. "Ryosuke, you must be hungry, aren't you?" I quickly took the other child into my arms along with his thermos.

"Mina, can I feed him?" Yurika asked.

"Sure," I smiled as I placed the baby in her arms. "Do you know how?"

"Uh uh," she shook her head.

"It's like this," I placed the thermos in her hand and put the thermos's nipple in Ryosuke's mouth, "just hold here like this and..."

At that moment, I knew my family had gained another member, Masa Yurika, AKA, Kondou Tamako. I would finally have someone who I could really talk to and get a response to what I had just said. I knew that deep inside that Yurika could never fully forgive me for killing her brothers, but I knew that if I could make her happy, then maybe, just maybe that hate would diminish and that her brothers and father would hate me less than they would.

"Wow, you're really good at that, Yurika, that you are," I complimented her as she continued feeding her new little brother.

"Arigatou, Mina," she smiled.

Yurika, you're all grown up now, just like your brother. I can't help but wonder now in the present if you have forgiven me just a little for what I did to your family. Do you still smile like how you did when you were little, or do you now...? No, I can't say it, it's too soon. Ryosuke, Yurika, time has gone by too quickly for the three of us, I'm sure you've both forgotten so many good times we had back then. It brings a tear to my eye when I remember things such as this. What am I saying, please, just...excuse me for a moment.

  
  


Chapter 3 Liner Notes

  
  


The origin of Kondou Tamako/Masa Yurika- Kondou Tamako was a real person in history, she was the last child of Kondou Isami. She was born around 1864, but after her father was captured by the Ishin Shishi in 1868, no one really knows what became of her. There are rumors that say she was forced to become a prostitute as she grew up, while others say that she planned a rebellion against the Meiji Government but the rebellion never went through. Another rumor was that she simply became a farmer's wife when she grew up, and then lived a normal life. In this fic, I'll be following one of these rumors' path, you readers will just have to find out and see which one. Tamako's alias, Masa Yurika, is actually a tribute of sorts to two Japanese weapons. Her "family" name is obviously homage to the Masamune, while "Yurika" is homage to a Japanese spear called a "yari." Oh, and for those wondering why her family name is "Kurotara" in the prologue and "Masa" in this chapter, there's a reason why her family name is different in the prologue, you'll just have to read on why that it is.

  
  


About the Masamune- The Masamune is a legendary sword written about in many samurai novels. All legends point to its origin to the first days of the Shogunate. There were once two great swordsmiths who were brothers that lived back then, Masamune and Murasame. The swords they made were the best in all of Japan at the time, but they often argued which one was the better swordsmith. Finally, a challenge was made to see who could create a better sword. The two brothers made their best swords eventually and decided to test them out in a bamboo thicket. Murasame went first, and when he swung his sword, many leaves and trees fell before his blade's swing. Masamune followed after, only with his swing, nothing fell, not even a leaf. Some believed that the embodiment of ki rested in Masamune's sword after what had happened, others believed that Masamune's was simply a dull blade. A winner could not be decided amongst the two brothers, and so, they created more swords in the same manner. Murasame's blades were always the sharpest, while Masamune's always possessed the same ki embodiment. There was one sword, however, that both brothers did work on together at the end of their lifetimes, and that sword was known as the Muramasa. The Muramasa was a sword that had the qualities of both Murasame's and Masamune's swords, however, only one was made. We will not see the Muramasa in this fic, unfortunately, but keep your eyes peeled for we will see it in another episode.

  
  


What does "Naze" and "Baka" mean?- "Naze" can be translated into English as "why," while "baka" is the Japanese words that pertains to "stupid," "idiot," or any other words in that category.

  
  


Why doesn't Mina call Kenshin by his real name during the flashback?- That scene took place months before Mina learned Kenshin's real name, so at that time, she doesn't know that his real name is Shinta.

  
  


Next time: "She has been appearing in my dreams again, it is only a matter or time before she manifests in my life once more. As long as I do not lose control, and as long as I do not remove the barrier, that can never be. But what if an outside source tries to pull into her this world, will I be strong enough to subdue the beast?" -Himura Mina

Author's Note: I'm not sure what to say guys, maybe just the usual read and review if you like, but no flames as usual. The real plot of the story will begin to take shape in the next chapter, and more of it will also be revealed in the next chapter of "When Angels Lost Their Wings." Speaking of which, you might want to read the latest chapter of that as well since both stories' plots will be brought together sooner than you think. It will start in chapter five when both stories' plots will cross paths, so you might want to read the first few chapters so you know all the characters to the entire story. Well, with that said, I guess I'll see you all later then and I'll try to bring the next chapter up soon.


	5. The Lavender Barrier

Author's Note: So sorry for the long wait in updating, but last semester was so hectic that I hardly had any free time to write. My writing style for this chapter might below my usual standards, probably because I've gotten rusty for neglecting this fic for so long. In any case, I'll try to get the next chapter up while I'm still on vacation, and I definitely guarantee that that one will be much bigger than this one. I guess that's all I have to say for now, so let's get back to the story.

  
  


Chapter 4: The Lavender Barrier

  
  


Drip, drip, the sound of water dripping, it was one of the many things that have kept me awake during my journey. The sound of the wind outside, how it pushes the bamboo trees to the west, I can hear the woods' creak. The passing of a storm, I was normally able to sleep past such things, but when you don't have a blanket to cover you from the cold and the droplets of the rain that seep through the roof, how could I sleep?

"Mina, are you still awake?"

I turn to the other side of the room to find my roommate and best friend still awake. Her usual smile is plastered on her face, even if her eyes are barely open.

"Yeah," I answered, "I can't believe my entire futon got soaked from the storm while we were away."

"It's rather cold, isn't it?" she asked. "Mina, why don't you come in here?" she offered, lifting an opening in her blanket.

"Oh no, Shion!" I waved my friends before me. "Not after that one time you pretended to sleep with me when I had that hangover."

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" her usual laugh escaped her lips. "My, that was quite hilarious, was it not? Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"Good night, Shion," I said as I began to walk to the other side of the room.

"But seriously, Mina," her laughs began to die down, "I don't mind sharing my futon with you. Look, I won't try anything, really."

Shion was always a joker, always flirting with me and stuff, but she was also very serious at times. It was always easy to tell which role she was playing back then, and at that moment, I knew she was being serious.

Without wasting another moment on the rock-hard tatami, I walked to the other side of the room. Unfortunately, there was not enough room for me to fit in the futon with her, so instead, Shion got out of the mattress and placed her back against the wall, bringing the blanket with her. She then opened one half of the blanket and waved me in to the space. I took up on her offer, finding a seat right next to her so that our shoulders would meet. The white material closed over my nearly frozen body after, filling it with a warm gust.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah, arigatou, Shion," I thanked her.

"If you need a pillow, you can use my shoulder," she offered.

"Gomen, Shion, but I doubt I'll be needing that."

That's not what happened though. The second I began to doze off, I suddenly found my head drifting to the left. Before my entire body could follow to the floor, I felt an arm wrap around my waist, pulling me to the other side. My head that met with the shoulder of another, my temple nestling into her collar. It was somewhat hard, and yet, I felt very comfortable. I couldn't help but sink my head further down, nestling it between Shion's chin and the base of her neck. She began to pull my body toward hers more, more so as she placed my back in front of her body.

"This is nice...," I began to nestle further into my human pillow.

"Good night, Mina," she whispered into my ear.

"Good night, Shi..."

"Hey, Mina, wake up already!"

"Oro?"

"I'm hungry, where's breakfast?!" I turn to the side to find my oldest child whining.

"Just give me a few more minutes, Yurika...," I grumbled as I nestled back into my futon.

The date of my story is now August 3, Western Year 1868, a month and five days prior to when I was supposed to meet Shion in Nagoya. As time passed toward that date, I couldn't help but think of her more and more with each day that passed.

"Waaahhhh!" Ryosuke's cries followed a second later.

"C'mon, Mina!" Yurika began to tug on my sleeve once more.

"All right, all right," I sighed, pushing my blanket to the side.

Despite how mature Yurika acted, she was always a child at heart, and a child she acted as during a majority of our journey. Like most kids, she would always wake up her "mother," that being me, whenever she woke up. I would always have trouble putting her and Ryosuke to sleep, it usually took three or so hours to do so, but Ryosuke also tended to wake up a few times before the morning could come. Sure I got sleep, but it was usually only about five hours or less. Still, it was just enough for me to function at 100% the next day.

"I'm tired of eating dried fish!" Yurika whined as I dug into our bag of rations. "Mina, can't you just buy breakfast this time?"

"Breakfast is rather expensive at inns, that it is," I simply smiled at the child, "and we're running rather low on money these days."

"But I don't wanna eat dried fish!" she continued. "Mina, can't you just go fishing or something?"

"I suppose I can do that," I said, digging back into our belongings and pulling out two pieces of a bamboo reed. "In the meantime though, I want you to feed Ryosuke his thermos," I ordered her as I picked up the rest of the fishing supplies from my bag.

"But what am I going to eat while you're gone?!" she asked as I began to make my way out the door.

"There's some leftover bread in our rations that you could have," I pointed out as I made my way out the door.

"That's not fair, Mina!" she yelled before I left the room.

'Oh boy, there she goes again,' I sighed as I shut the door.

I didn't mind take care of both Yurika and Ryosuke, it's just that Yurika was a handful at times, even more was Ryosuke. Still, I enjoyed taking care of them, we were our own little family, and another was to be added to the family as soon as we met up with her in Nagoya. I would finally have someone to help me take care of the kids, I had no idea being a mother of two could be this difficult.

"This looks like a nice spot, that it does," I said as I placed my tackle box on the ground.

There was a valuable lesson I learned while traveling with two kids, food is more expensive when you have more than one person with you. Up until I adopted Ryosuke, I really only had to buy food for myself and a few thermoses of milk for Ryosuke, but with Yurika now traveling with us, let's just say she's a machine. The girl would pretty much just eat and eat, but she was rather picky of what she ate. She preferred her food fresh instead of dried, probably because our main dishes were mainly dried meat. Luckily I bought a fishing pole, some bait, a bucket, and a small trowel so we can gain a free meal or two if we stopped at a stream or lake.

It was rather boring fishing, I never got used to it. I would always tend to almost fall asleep as I did it. The day of my story was no different either. There was nothing exciting going about, not even a small splash in the water. My eyes kept focusing on the line and the drifting wood that was attached to it. There was no wind either, so sound ceased to exist for the most part. The only sounds that passed were my yawns ever five or so minutes.

'Man, it doesn't look like they're biting today,' I thought to myself, 'maybe I should just go to the market and buy some.'

My eyes began to sink into slumber again, but then a sudden jolt shot up my body. My eyes suddenly widened and my arms flinched, something wasn't right. I turned to the left side of the road behind me and saw no one there, so I turned to the right and still found nothing. My eyes then lingered to the bushes directly behind me, not a rustle or brush. I knew I wasn't alone, someone was watching me.

"Who's there?" I called out.

Silence was the only answer I received. At that exact moment, I felt another jolt shooting up my system, this one was coming from my hand. The fishing pole was suddenly being tugged toward the river, and naturally, I clasped the lower half of the rod and pulled the force that was tugging at the pole into my arms.

'Trout,' I gazed into the fish now squirming between my hands, 'I'm sure Yurika will be pleased with this.'

I tossed the fish into my bucket and returned the pole and tackle box into my bag. As I began to make my way back into the inn, I couldn't help but turn back to the bushes. I could've sworn I saw them move, but with a shrug of shoulders, I concluded it was probably just a squirrel or something. Still, I knew I felt a ki back there, but at the time, I thought that it was just my imagination.

"All right, this looks good!" was the greeting I got from Yurika upon returning.

"Well I'm glad you're happy, that I am," I said as I placed my things on the floor.

"Hurry up and cook it!" she ordered as I brought the pale toward the stove.

"Now, now, let's calm down, shall we?" I smiled as I placed the fish into a pan. "Hm?" another jolt went up my system for the second time that day.

I turned my attention toward the balcony of our room. Again, I found nothing there, nothing but the sight of the village we were staying at.

"Is something wrong?" Yurika's voice returned me to reality.

"Oro? Oh, it's nothing," I responded. "So Yurika, were you able to feed Ryosuke?" I changed the subject.

"Hai," she answered, "he went back to sleep right after, see!" she pointed to my baby sleeping on the other side of the room.

"That's good," I smiled, "arigatou, Yurika."

"Paranoid, are we?" her voice began to linger in my ears suddenly.

"You again?!" I fumed in my head. "Just what are you up to this time, Kensai?"

"Nothing," she answered. "I'm just impressed that you noticed it too, you haven't grown too soft with the several months that passed."

"So I'm not just feeling things, huh?" I asked in my head.

"You might want to leave this one to me," Kensai said.

"And why would I want to do that?" I sighed, still speaking in my head. "I made an oath never to kill again, and I intend to keep it. That goes for you too, I don't want you to start killing for me."

"How long do you think you'll be able to hide your true self from your 'children'?" she suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled by her words.

"Do you remember how many lives you and I took in the war?" she reminded me. "Don't tell me that you don't get the urge to..."

"I made an oath and I will keep it!" I yelled at her.

"Fine, I'll play along with your game for now," she sighed. "But remember this, just because you can no longer kill doesn't mean you can't hide your lust for blood."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I spat. "Kensai, answer me!" I yelled after a second of silence.

"Mina?" the voice of my child entered my ear after.

"Gomen nesai," I apologized, "my imagination's just getting the best of me, that's all."

As I fried the fish, my thoughts couldn't help but linger back to that ki I felt earlier. There was no mistaking it, it was the exact same ki I felt back at the fishing spot. Whoever it was, I had no idea, I never felt a ki like that before. It seemed different from what I had ever felt before in battle. Whatever it was, it was strong.

We left the inn and village shortly after our meal, our destination was to head northeast in Kyoto's direction. Nagoya was a few miles east of Kyoto, and it would naturally take a month to get there.

"Where are we going?" Yurika asked as we traveled down the road.

"Nagoya," I answered, "there's someone I have to meet over there, that I do."

"Who?" Yurika asked as she ran in front of me, stopping before my tracks.

"A friend," I answered, giving my usual smile to the child. "Her name's Shion, she's my best friend from the war."

"Shion, huh?" she asked as I began to walk passed her. "What kind of person is she?"

"Oh, she's a very nice person," I began. "Shion helped me with a lot of things, she even saved my life a few times, that she did. Although I didn't like the fact that she would hit on me," I muttered the last sentence to myself.

"What was the last part, Mina?"

"Oh, nothing. Hm, again?" I quickly turned to the field on the side of the road.

There was no mistaking it at that time, we were being followed. I placed my belongings on the ground and began to reach for the reverse-blade that rested on my belt.

"Mina, what is it?" Yurika asked as she noticed me dropping my things.

"Sh! Someone's watching us," I whispered as I handed her the younger child that was resting on my back.

"Who?"

"Show yourself, coward!" I yelled into the field.

A gust of wind suddenly blew passed me, blowing towards my children. With a quick step to the side, I swung my blade away from Yurika and Ryosuke. Ting! My weapon had just swatted away a shard of steel in the form of a dagger. My daughter just stood there with her mouth wide open and her arms tightly clinging to her brother. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes to where I thought the source of the attack was, only to have them widen again as another gust blew from behind.

"Watch out!" I brought my children into my free arm and pulled them away from the wind, swinging my blade at the source once more.

Another knife fell to the ground, and Yurika was as scared as ever, still hugging Ryosuke tightly.

"Yurika, I want you to stay close to me," I ordered, bringing my other hand to the pommel of my sakabatou. "Your sword is in the bag if you need, get it while you can."

I didn't like the idea of keeping a weapon for my children, but the fact of the matter was they would need to defend themselves if need be. I kept the Masamune unfortunately, but only because it was Kondou's heirloom to Yurika. Still, I couldn't help but worry whenever Yurika used it, fearing that she'd go crazy like the time we fought or if she'd take lives. For some odd reason though, she was no longer able to use the ki of the sword to attack in long distances.

The girl did just as I said, using her free hand to take the legendary sword out of my bag and into her belt. She kept Ryosuke as close to her as ever as she took the weapon, but she reached for the weapon ever so slowly. Just as she returned to my side however, a third rush of wind followed, this one heading straight for me. Without even thinking, I pushed my children away and swung my weapon forward, catching another slab of steel. This time, however, I caught more than a weapon, there was someone holding onto this one. His entire body was covered in black, and his face wrapped in cloth. His weapon was very odd too; it was a sword that was about three feet long with no groove to tell which side held the blade's edge. The blade was still curved, but there was no real point. I also noticed that it's wielder only used one hand to hold it. After observing the details of who my attacker was, I pushed all my weight into my weapon, forcing him to jump away in a back flip.

"Who are you?" I asked as I readied my blade once more. "And why are you attacking us?"

"My name does not concern you," the man spoke, his voice speaking in an odd accent and his words somewhat disjointed.

He charged once more after speaking, his form nearly disappearing from my eyes as he did so. The winds were now coming from behind, I knew he was going to strike with my back turned. Out of instinct, my feet pushed me backward once more, my left arm grabbing hold of Yurika and Ryosuke once more so that they could escape harm's way.

"Run!" I ordered Yurika after, pushing her to the battlefield's side lines.

Without a saying a single word, the child nodded and began making her way toward the tall grass fields to the side with Ryosuke in her arms. Yet before they could reach it, our unknown attacker had appeared before the two of them. I knew I had no time to rush over there and deflect that man's attack, but there was an alternate that would still save their life. Without wasting another second, I pushed my feet forward once more, turning my body one-hundred-eighty degrees just as soon as I was able to wrap my children in my arms once more. Just as soon as I had caught them and as soon as my feet met with the ground, a jolt of pain shot through my back. It was the kiss of steel against my back, slashing downward and stopping inches before my pelvis.

"Argh!" I screamed the very moment the sword had met with my flesh.

"Mina!" my eldest child cried.

My body was beginning to drag to the ground at the moment, my breath had become short. I can feel another pound pressing down on me with every drop of blood that escaped the newly opened wound. My arms, my legs, even my head, all were sinking to the floor, each of these things and the rest of my body were too heavy to lift. 

"Typical woman," the man taunted after, "always trying to protect their young. It's this very weakness that will bring you to your death."

"Come on, Mina, get up!" Yurika began to yell, pushing my shoulder with her free arm.

It was no good, my body had succumbed to the pain of the strike. The cut was deep, I could feel every drop of blood being drained from my body. Yurika's and Ryosuke's cries were as loud as ever, yet, they were at the same time growing fainter and fainter from my ears. The tears that were streaming down their cheeks, oh so hard they flowed, and yet, those very floods, as well as the faces of my children were beginning to fade to black. I thought back then that this was really going to be the end, however...

Clang! The sound of metal screeching against another had entered my ear once more. Light was beginning to return to my eyes, and once again I could see my children crying before me. The weight of steel in my right arm had also returned, but for some reason, I had not ordered my body to move. My head began to rise suddenly, and as it did so, it captured a glimpse of lavender in the hands of my youngest one.

"My ribbon?!" I said shocked upon finding it in Ryosuke's hands, yet, my voice did not escape my lips. "If that's there, then that means..."

"What is this?!" I could sense the perturbation in the masked man's voice.

"Attacking a woman from behind, how crude," my body suddenly spoke.

"Kensai!" I realized who was now in control of my body.

"Crude or not, your head will be mine!" the rush of the man's blade plummeted downward once more.

My lips suddenly curled the second the man's sword fell downward, only to wipe away that smirk with the rise of my sakabatou. The two slabs of metal clashed once more, with my left palm supporting the flat side of my blade. The two weapons were only locked for a second however, as I suddenly found the wind cutting against my face and my body twisting itself backward. In the blink of an eye, I was facing the back of my opponent, yet my body did not act yet. Instead, my feet began to push all my weight against the ground, pushing it hard it enough that it launched me into the air. In the very next second, I found both my arms rising upward, creating a firm grasp on my reverse-bladed sword. In not even a second, I was already an inch above the man's skull and my weapon was already striking downward.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu," Kensai cried from my body, "Ryu-Tsui-Sen!"

"Where...?" the man suddenly realized I was nowhere to be found at the instant.

Before I knew it, the man had turned upward for one second, only to see a flash of steel fall down upon his face. A loud crunch followed after the impact, his nose pushed inward into his skull and his mouth wide open. His body fell to the floor afterward, the earth around him crumbling. A whirlwind of dust had followed after his fall, engulfing the entire area in clouds of earth. His body came into clear view seconds later, as well as my two children, the older one still clinging desperately to the younger one.

"I can't believe you had trouble with a simple thug like him, Mina," Kensai spat, "has your oath to kill made you soft, or is it...?"

My vision was then cast upon my children, looking at them through a tiny slit in my eyes. My lips began to curl for a second, my tongue applying a layer of saliva over my mouth. My feet began moving once more after, moving my body toward my children. With every step she made me take, there was not a second my eyes left theirs.

"Mina...?" Yurika called, puzzled.

"Kensai, whatever you're planning on doing, stop it!" I tried to order, yet the words could not escape my lips.

My words were unable to reach her, but I knew she heard them. With that simper still stretched across my lips, Kensai knelt down to my child, her hand still on my reverse-bladed sword. Yurika's eyes were still filled with confusion as Kensai gazed into her cerulean blue pupils, but Kensai had turned away from them shortly after to observe the child in Yurika's arms. They were open as wide as they could be, yet there were still tears streaming down his cheeks, and whimpers were escaping his lips. The fingers on my free hand began to glide down the baby's face, sliding downward until it found the other child's face.

"I see...," Kensai suddenly said in my voice, "so this is why..."

"Why what, Mina?" Yurika asked as confused as ever.

"Kensai...?" my doppelganger had even left me puzzled.

"Yurika, hand me my ribbon, won't you?" Kensai asked to my surprise.

"Um...okay," the child slipped the lavender material onto my hand after.

"This isn't like you, Kensai," I said as she fastened the ribbon onto my hair, "just what are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything," she answered, "it's just an observation, that's all."

"An observation?"

"I just remembered a story I heard back in the Revolution," she continued, "mainly how that story is linked to our friend over there."

"You mean you know who he is?" I asked returning my gaze to our unconscious attacker.

"No, but I think I have an idea what this whole thing was about."

"What is it?"

"See for yourself," she ordered me as she tightened the hold of the purple barrier. "Search his pockets."

Without another word, I began to step toward our assailant. His breath was heavy and his limbs were shaking, but I knew he wasn't going to get up anytime soon. The man was pretty much knocked out, although a few words did escape his lips as he lay there. I couldn't understand them unfortunately, they were spoken in a language I could not understand. Ignoring his rants, I had my fingers trace through the pockets of his clothing. His shirt contained a wallet with fifty yen in it, an a few more daggers hidden in his sleeve. Although it was stealing, I needed the money so I placed it in my own pocket, but the daggers I placed in my bag. It didn't take me long for me to find something in his pants' pocket, however.

"What's this?" I said as my fingers skimmed down the pocket on his right side.

My index and middle finger quickly clenched the material that was sticking out of the pocket, prying it quickly to reveal a piece of paper. It was cluttered with lint and some dirt, but it was blank, at least on the side I was looking at it. As my nails skimmed through the piece of paper, I found a small flap on the bottom. It was a fold, and naturally, I pulled the inside and outside apart to reveal something I thought I would never have to see.

It was a picture of me and Shion, our faces from the neck up. There was a crease on the paper that had separated our pictures, but beneath our portraits was something else. At the bottom half of the paper was some writing, an alphabet that was alien to me. It was similar to kanji, yet, there were extra markings on the symbols. I could not read this writing, despite the basic form of the lettering being the same. With the kanji that was still the same, it spelled words that I could not understand.

"What is it, Mina?" Yurika interrupted after using a minute or two to investigate this mysterious piece of paper.

"...it's nothing," I said as I pushed the entire page into my left palm using my right hand.

"The sword he had is pretty weird, don't you think?" the child reminded me of his weapon.

"Yeah," I turned to the other side of his body where the slab of steel lay, "it doesn't look like anything from around here. Anyway, we should get out of here before he wakes up again," I said, beginning to make my way toward the north once more. "But I think these tools and money of his will be of some use to us," I said, taking prying the foreign blade from the ground, "I'm pretty sure it can sell well in the next village."

"Sounds good," Yurika began chasing after me. "Do you think we can eat out instead of eating more jerky once we sell the guy's stuff?"

"Of course," I smiled, despite the fact I knew we wouldn't be able to afford to do so.

'I'm such a bad liar; the money I get for this stuff will probably be used to pay the doctor that fixes me up, the damn punk actually got me pretty good,' I thought to myself as the burn of my wounds began to ignite once more. 'In any case, I won't have to deal with guys like him again.'

"What makes you think that?" Kensai's voice appeared in my head once more.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Do you think it's all over just like that, you really have become soft since the war, Mina."

"So what?" I retorted in my mind so that my children could not hear me. "There's no need to do what I had to back in the war, I can just life normally and..."

"Normally?" the word had made Kensai burst into laughter. "What makes you think you can live normally now? Just because the war ended doesn't mean anything. They'll still come after you, you know."

"And just who are 'they?'"

"That piece of paper, Mina, what do you think it is?" Kensai asked. "It's a bounty poster, that's what it is."

"How do you know this?"

"Posters like this were always up during the war, remember?" she reminded me. "Only this time, the one on the poster is you."

"So Shion's plan didn't work after all," I concluded. "And with her picture on the bounty list as well, the Meiji must be after her too."

"It's not the Meiji who's after you, Mina," Kensai continued, "it's someone else. Think of it, if it was the Meiji, don't you think they would have put up wanted posters for you and Shion ages ago?"

"Then who is it?" my teeth began to grind against each other.

"I don't know," Kensai answered. "But whoever it is, I'm sure Shion might have an idea."

"Shion?" my feet suddenly stopped at the mention of her name.

"Mina, why'd you stop?" Yurika tugged at my sleeve. "You're not going to fall down, are you?"

"Are they after you too, Shion?" I began to speak my thoughts. "Are you even still alive?"

For the first time ever since we went our separate ways, I began to worry about her safety. Shion was always a strong warrior, she was probably the only person other than my brother who was able to match my skill back then. But after fighting that mysterious bounty hunter, I had to worry. Are there bounty hunters that are just as strong as the guy I just fought, or was that guy just a small fry? This question plagued my mind over and over again as I stood there; it's presence in my mind taunted me, taunting the person I had become. During the Revolution, it wouldn't have been a problem to kill a man like that, I have killed over a thousand men during the Revolution according to Tetsu's final report, but now that the war is over, my power had decreased significantly. I had to wonder if the same had happened to Shion, and if it did...

"Come on!" my feet suddenly broke out into a run.

"Mina, wait up!" Yurika cried as her voice began to grow faint.

"Shion, you can't die that easily!" I said as my feet pushed against the ground faster. "I won't allow you too!"

"I guess this is goodbye then," my thoughts began to recall our last conversation.

"No, this isn't goodbye, I won't let you say it before we meet again!" I cried.

Chapter 4 Liner Notes

  
  


About Mina's ribbon- If you haven't read book I of "Crimson String," the lavender ribbon is a gift from Kenshin that allows Mina to prevent Kensai (her more violent persona) from taking control of her body. Mina suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder, and Kensai is her other persona who is much more violent and perverted than her true self. The ribbon is based on Japanese mythological artifacts that are able to seal away demons if their spirit is able to find their way into a person's body. If the artifact is not removed, the person can control their body without having the demon that possesses them take control. However, if the artifact is removed, then the demon will take possession of that person's body until the artifact is restored. Basically, when Mina removes her ribbon, it's like she's saying "I'm going all out." When her hair is tied in her usual high ponytail however, it symbolizes her holding back.

  
  


About the unknown bounty hunter- I don't want to give too much away, but I will tell you that whoever placed the bounty on Mina's and Shion's head has something to do with Shion's past. For more details on it, read the fourth of chapter of "When Angels Lost Their Wings." The weapon the bounty hunter had, however, is not a katana, but a Chinese broadsword, and the unknown language that was written on the bounty list was Cantonese.

  
  


Next time: "She has awakened once again, and I continue to combat her influence just as I did in the hell that was the Meiji Revolution. I never wanted to fall under her spell, but now, with the life of someone so dear to me in danger, our desires become one once more..." -Himura Mina

  
  


Author's Note: I hope this chapter was okay, sorry if it disappointed you readers, but it seems like I'm rusty after all this time, but I swear to you my writing level will return to how it was when I wrote "Crimson String Book I: Siblings of the Sword." Well I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, it'll be huge, the reunion of Mina and Shion, hopefully that one doesn't disappoint. Also with the next chapter, I'll be starting to put up character profiles and whatnot, starting with Mina. More profiles will also be put up in "When Angels Lost Their Wings," I'll be starting with Shion in the next chapter of that fic. I guess that's it for now, and again, sorry for the long wait, later people.


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